Uncertainty over Greece
drags down markets
Stocks are closing lower in the United States and elsewhere as a new flare-up of political uncertainty in Greece has investors worrying about the stability of the euro again.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 55 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 17,983 Tuesday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 10 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,080 and the Nasdaq composite was down 29 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,777.
European markets fell. Greece's main index was down slightly following a sharp drop a day earlier.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 51 cents to $54.12 a barrel in New York. Oil has fallen about 50 percent since June.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged down to 2.19 percent.
Modernizing Medicine buys Aesyntix Health
BOCA RATON -- In a move that could significantly expand its business, Modernizing Medicine, creator of a cloud-based, specialty-specific electronic medical records system, announced Tuesday that it has acquired a California company.
Modernizing Medicine, based in Boca Raton, developed and markets the Electronic Medical Assistant, or EMA, an iOS and Android application already used by nearly 5,000 physicians in eight healthcare specialties, including dermatology, ophthalmology and orthopedics.
EMA makes it easy for physicians to record notes during an exam, see past records, make a diagnosis, order prescriptions and lab work and make a report for patients all in a couple of minutes.
The purchase of Aesyntix Health, a privately held company based in Roseville, Calif., will enable Modernizing Medicine to provide billing, inventory management and group purchasing services to its physician customers in addition to EMA. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Consumer confidence rises with U.S. economy
Amid signs the economic recovery is finally kicking into high gear, consumers grew slightly more confident this month, according to one key measure.
Fewer U.S. consumers saw business conditions as bad in December, while more reported that jobs were plentiful, the Conference Board said Tuesday. The organization's consumer confidence index rose to 92.6, up from 91 in November.
The reading was slightly less than the 93 level economists expected, according to FactSet.
After a slow start to the year, the U.S. economy is ending 2014 on a high note. The nation posted its strongest growth in more than a decade last quarter, and the economy this year is on pace to add the most new jobs since 1999.
-- Herald wire reports
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