Banks sink as US stocks close mixed amid Greece worries

NEW YORK (AFP) - Falling banking stocks dragged the United States (US) equity market down on Thursday amid worry about fallout from a Greek default, but Apple and Google helped the Nasdaq gain for a fourth straight day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 40.72 points (0.35 per cent) to finish at 11,478.13.

The S&P 500, a broader measure of the markets, fell 3.59 (0.30 per cent) to 1,203.66, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 15.51 points (0.60 per cent) to 2,620.24.

'US stocks spent most of the session south of break-even today, with banks leading the retreat in the wake of a less-than-stellar earnings showing from JPMorgan Chase,' said Ms Andrea Kramer at Schaeffer's Investment Research.