Stocks on Wall Street have fallen as investors find little reason to extend a five-week rally because of lingering uncertainty about whether Greece will accept the terms of a bailout.
Negotiations between coalition parties on the austerity measures, which are required to secure a bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, broke down on Sunday, have been delayed until Tuesday
Greece needs the funds by March to meet big debt repayments.
The Dow Jones Index on Monday was down 40 points, or 0.3%, at 12,822. The Nasdaq Composite was down 6 points, or 0.2%, at 2900.
In Europe: the FTSE 100 index in London fell 0.2%, the CAC-40 in Paris fell 0.7% and the DAX in Frankfurt was flat.
The Australian 200 Index rose 45 points, or 1%, to close at 4296 on Monday. On Friday, the NZX 50 closed down 2 points at 3312.
At 8.07am on Tuesday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 83.33 US cents, 77.65 Australian cents, 52.67 pence, 63.80 yen and 0.6352 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 73.13.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US116.26 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1723 per ounce.
