European Union foreign ministers agree

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Continuing worries over the eurozone are counteracting monetary easing in China
• Major stock indices, such as FTSE All-World Equity and S&P 500 futures, are down 0.4 per cent
• Greece's failure to form a coalition government is augmenting traders' uncertainty

(Financial Times) -- Markets are having difficulty establishing a bullish platform as continuing worries over the eurozone counteract news of more monetary easing in China.

The FTSE All-World equity index is down 0.4 per cent as the FTSE Eurofirst opens with a loss of 0.8 per cent and Asia is off 0.4 per cent.

S&P 500 futures point to Wall Street falling 0.4 per cent later in the day, on course to close at its lowest mark in nine weeks. Gold is down 0.1 per cent to $1,577 a troy ounce, close to its cheapest this year.

Overall, the mood is once again risk-averse, as can be gauged by the performance of traditional barometers. The dollar index, which tends to be inversely correlated to trader optimism, is up 0.2 per cent, while money is moving into highly rated fixed income, with yields on US 10-year bonds down 2 basis points to 1.82 per cent.

Fareed's Take

Coalition talks continue in Greece

Greeks in last-ditch government talks

Can anyone govern Greece?

The euro is stable, but its level of $1.2889 represents a near-four month low, its decline testament to one of the important factors hampering the broader market of