DJIA: Stocks Fall as Greece Stalls, Xstrata Glencore Merger, BP Q4 Profits Up, Coca Cola Cashes In

Stocks fell on Tuesday, indicating equities may fall for a second consecutive session, as talks to secure a new bailout for Greece had yet to produce definitive results.

Greek party leaders face crunch talks today to secure a new international bailout and avoid a chaotic debt default, caught between EU demands that they accept painful reforms now and a national strike against more austerity.

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In company  news... mining group Xstrata agreed to merge with commodities trading giant Glencore, in a $90 billion recommended all-share deal, the mining sector's biggest to date.

The miner said on Tuesday that shareholders would receive 2.8 new Glencore shares per Xstrata share held, excluding Xstrata shares already owned by Glencore.

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And, British oil giant BP has reported a 14 percent rise in its fourth quarter profits and raised its dividend contrary to market forecasts.

Adjusted net profit for the period which ended on Dec. 31 2011 went up on strong crude prices. Net profit rose to $7.69 billion, against $5.57 billion for the fourth quarter of 2010.

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And last but not least, Coca-Cola Co reported better-than-expected quarterly results and announced a new cost-savings program on Tuesday, helping to send shares in the world's top soft-drink maker up 1.3 percent in premarket trading.

Now for a look at our major indices... the Dow Jones industrial average is down 2 points, to 12,842.86... the Nasdaq is down 5 points, to 2,897.22... and the S&P 500 index is down 4 points, to 1,340.18.

Crude oil gained 79 cents, to $97.70 a barrel. Gold is up $10.20 to $1,735.10 an ounce.

Let's check in with the major currency pairs... euro dollar is up 83 pips, trading at 1.3212... the dollar yen is up 34 pips, to 76.87... and the pound dollar is up 24 basis points, to 1.5839.

Dollar swissie is down 44 pips, to .9140... dollar cad is down barely 2 pips, to .9954... and the aussie dollar is up 79 pips, trading at 1.0801.