The Dow Jones industrial average is heading for its 11th loss in 12 days after a pair of discouraging economic reports and as investors worried about Greece’s possible exit from euro.

The Dow fell 130 points to 12,469 a half-hour before the closing bell. It’s down 5 percent for the month so far and could be headed for its first down month since September.

Caterpillar fell 4 percent, the most of the 30 stocks in the Dow, after reporting that global sales growth of construction and mining machinery slowed in the three months through April. Wal-Mart stock rose 5 percent, the most in the Dow, after reporting a 10 percent jump in first-quarter income, beating Wall Street expectations.

Indexes opened lower on Wall Street following drops in European markets. The declines accelerated at mid-morning after the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said manufacturing slowed in the mid-Atlantic region for the first time in eight months. New orders decreased and firms cut jobs.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 17 points to 1,308. The Nasdaq composite fell 51 points to 2,822.

The Conference Board said its measure of future U.S. economic growth fell in April after six months of increases. The drop reflected fewer requests for building permits and a spike in applications for unemployment benefits.

These gloomy reports were a surprise and came as investors continued to fret about developments in Europe where Greece seemed headed for an exit from the euro bloc, something that investors fear would cause turmoil on global markets.

“The U.S. economy is growing slowly and not going gangbusters,” said Brian Gendreau, market strategist at broker-dealer Cetera Financial Group. “But Europe is very much on investors’ minds. It’s been two years with multiple bailouts involving Ireland, Portugal and Greece and things don’t seem to be getting better.”

Greece’s caretaker Cabinet was sworn in Thursday and will hold power at least until next month’s election. In the recently-held elections Greeks didn’t given any party a majority, but they did give strong support to politicians who rejected the tough austerity measures that came with the country’s financial bailout.

Without that rescue package, Greece will likely default and be forced to leave the 17-country euro zone, which would destabilize other countries that use the euro. German, French and Spanish stock markets all fell more than 1 percent.

The economic damage is already being felt by other members of the euro bloc.

Spain was forced to pay sharply higher interest rates to raise $3.18 billion in a debt auction Thursday. And shares of Bankia, which Spain nationalized last week, plunged 20 percent on a report from the newspaper El Mundo stating that depositors have withdrawn over $1 billion since last Wednesday.

Oil prices continued to trade lower, falling below $93 a barrel on Thursday, extending a sharp two-week sell-off, as traders worried about the potential impact on global growth from the European crisis. Crude oil has plummeted about 12 percent from $106 two weeks ago.

Energy companies fell. Chesapeake Energy declined 3 percent, while WPX Energy 4 percent.

Among stocks making big moves:

— Media General soared 33 percent after billionaire Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy 63 newspapers from the company for $142 million.

— GameStop fell 10 percent after the world’s largest video game retailer reported its first-quarter profit fell 9.8 percent, as fewer customers visited its stores and bought new games and systems.

— Sears Holdings rose 4 percent after the beleaguered retailer turned a profit in the first quarter, benefiting from a gain on the sale of some stores.

..(AP)

Stronger news about the U.S. economy stilled the ripples from Europe’s latest political impasse Tuesday, pushing U.S. stocks between modest gains and losses.

The euro and European stocks plunged as trading in New York began after efforts to form a government in Greece collapsed. Newly-elected political leaders there disagree about whether to accept more international bailouts and continue with painful spending cuts.

In the U.S., stocks staged a mid-morning rally after word that confidence among U.S. builders rose to a five-year high in May. The index has risen for seven of the past eight months. Homebuilders rallied. Hovnanian Enterprises surged 10 percent, Lennar Corp. 4 percent and KB Home 3 percent.

Earlier, a survey by the New York Federal Reserve found that manufacturing activity in the New York region rebounded this month far more strongly than economists had expected.

The market’s early rise deflated briefly, then stocks climbed at midday to new daily highs. By the afternoon, the indexes again were flat for the day.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 12 points to 12,683 as of 3 p.m. EDT. Losses by most of its components were offset by gains for JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, shaking off recent losses related to the surprise $2 billion trading loss that JPMorgan announced last week.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell two to 1,336. The Nasdaq composite index rose seven to 2,909.

Stocks are having their worst month in the past eight. For the month, the Dow is down 518 points — about 4 percent — after hitting a four-year high on May 1. The average is on track to post its first monthly loss since September, when it fell 6 percent.

If the Dow closes higher, it will be only its second up day since the peak reached on May 1.

The euro fell as low as $1.2730, a four-month low against the dollar, after Greek socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos declared that attempts to form a governing coalition there had failed and new elections will be held next month. If voters elect parties opposed to the terms of the country’s financial rescue, Greece could be expelled from the euro, shocking global markets.

Stock indexes in France, Britain and Germany gave up earlier gains after Venizelos’ remarks and closed sharply lower.

Aside from fears about Europe, stocks are suffering because a string of weaker economic data in recent weeks has dampened hopes for corporate performance in the current quarter ending June 30, said John Butters, senior earnings analyst at FactSet, a financial data provider.

For the first month of the quarter, as earnings came in strong and stocks rose, analysts’ expectations for second-quarter earnings growth held steady at 6 percent, Butters said. In the two weeks since then, as the U.S. economy appeared to soften and Europe’s problems reemerged, analysts cut their estimates for S&P 500 earnings growth to 5 percent, he said.

Analysts expect earnings to decline this quarter for half of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500, Butters said. He said many expect a strong rebound in the fourth quarter as demand returns in emerging markets such as China and India.

Among other stocks making big moves:

— Home Depot slumped 2 percent, the most of the 30 companies in the Dow, after the world’s biggest home-improvement company forecast revenue that was below what Wall Street analysts were expecting.

— TJX Cos., which owns the T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods store chains, shot up 7 percent, the most in the S&P 500 index. The discount retailer reported a 58 percent surge in first-quarter income and raised its full-year profit forecast.

— Avon Products Inc. fell 11 percent, the most in the S&P 500 index, after Coty Inc. canceled its unsolicited, $10.7 billion bid for the cosmetics retailer.

— Groupon leapt 6 percent after the online daily discount site reported first-quarter revenue that exceeded analysts’ expectations.

(AP)