NEW YORK — Stocks edged lower in early trading Thursday after a European economic summit delivered no concrete solutions for the region’s debt troubles.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 30 to 12,467 in the first half-hour of trading. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell two points to 1,317. The Nasdaq composite index fell 13 points to 2,837.
Tiffany & Co. plunged 5 percent after the luxury retailer cut its 2012 sales forecast. Hewlett-Packard jumped 6 percent, the most in the Dow Jones industrial average, after the company announced a purge of 27,000 jobs as part of a massive turnaround program by CEO Meg Whitman.
European leaders concluded their latest summit early Thursday with few concrete steps to fix the continent’s financial crisis even as the potential for a messy Greek exit from the euro appears to increase.
Markets in Europe recovered from a huge sell-off Wednesday as investors appeared to lose faith in political leaders who had gathered in Brussels to try to contain the continent’s debt crises.
However, there was little good news from the meeting for investors to take away.
Though there were discussions about jointly-issued regional "eurobonds" and the prospect of some form of cross-border deposit insurance plan, nothing of any substance was announced.
Many remain frustrated with what they perceive as a lack of urgency as Europe heads for a deadline that could reshape the eurozone.
Germany’s DAX rose 0.5 percent and the CAC-40 in France rose 0.9 percent.
Economic news did little to encourage investors. Orders for long-lasting factory goods edged up slightly in April but a key category that tracks business investment spending fell for a second straight month.
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