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As Iran continues to grapple with the West over its nuclear ambitions, experts say the nation could double its already sizable oil output if sanctions were lifted to allow foreign investment into its oil industry.

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By William L. Watts U.S. stock index futures indicated a positive start for Wall Street Monday amid a dearth of fresh economic news, although continued uncertainty over the euro zone were likely to keep a lid on any rebound from last week’s bruising selloff, strategists said. More than two hours before the start of trading, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 68 points higher at 12403. S&P 500 futures gained 7.4 points to 1298.20, and Nasdaq-100 futures increased by 15.75 points to 2484. Changes in futures don’t always accurately predict early market moves after the opening bell.”S&P 500 stock index futures are pointing firmly higher, hinting a respite from last week’s aggressive selling may open the door for a relief rally as Wall Street comes online,” said Ilya Spivak, currency strategist at DailyFX. U.S. stocks saw the worst week of the year last week. The Dow fell 73.11 points on Friday to 12369.38 for its 12th losing session out of the past 13. The index dropped 3.5% last week and is off 6.4% since the beginning of May. The S&P 500 shed 4.3% last week, ending Friday at 1295.22. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.3% for the week to settle at 2778.79. Strategists said a weekend meeting of leaders from the Group of Eight industrialized nations had little impact on overall confidence. G-8 leaders, meeting at the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., issued a joint statement affirming their desire for Greece to remain in the euro zone and for the country to meet its commitments. Leaders said they also welcomed “the ongoing discussion in Europe on how to generate growth, while maintaining a firm commitment to implement fiscal consolidation to be assessed on a structural basis.” G-8 leaders “confirmed their desire for Greece to remain within the euro zone and they increased the bias to balance austerity with economic growth. But they offered no tangible measures, and the onus is likely back on euro-zone institutions,” wrote strategists at Barclays in London. Greek voters return to the polls on June 17 after the splintered results of a May 6 parliamentary election left no party able to put together a government. Strong support for antiausterity parties has stirred fears that Athens won’t meet pledges it made in return for its second bailout, potentially leading to its exit from the shared-currency project. An informal meeting of European Union leaders is set for Wednesday. French President Fran�ois Hollande said he would press for the introduction of euro-zone bonds, though economists said German Chancellor Angela Merkel is likely to continue to resist calls to mutualize the region’s debt. European equities edged higher in Monday’s session, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index gaining 0.2% to 239.34. No major economic figures are set for release on Monday. On the corporate front, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. agreed to buy back about half of Yahoo Inc.’s 40% stake in the company in a deal valued at a minimum $7.1 billion, the companies said Sunday. Earnings were expected Monday from Campbell Soup Co. among others. Nymex crude-oil futures rose 30 cents in electronic trade to $91.78. Gold futures were down 50 cents at $1,591.40 an ounce. The dollar index slipped 0.1% to 81.201. The euro was little changed versus the dollar at $1.2773, while the U.S. unit gained 0.3% to trade at �79.33. …

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As if the debt crisis in Europe and a slow economic recovery aren’t enough to deal with this year.

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Efforts to keep Greece out of default and in the eurozone grow more uncertain by the day.

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One thing seems clear about JPMorgan Chase’s $2 billion loss. It’s no longer $2 billion. It’s likely much higher.

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The chief executive of Nasdaq OMX said he was “embarrassed” after technical glitches caused Facebook’s widely-anticipated IPO to be delayed Friday, according to several news reports.

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Facebook is finally public, but that won’t solve Greece’s problems.

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By Jonathan Cheng And Matt Jarzemsky A day billed as Facebook Inc.’s coming-out party ended up marking a much gloomier event: the stock market’s worst week in six months.As the long-anticipated listing of the social-networking company landed with a whimper, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 73.11 points, or 0.6%, to 12369.38, bringing its losing streak to six days. The blue-chip index has fallen in 12 of the past 13 days.The latest wave of selling came as investors focused on fresh developments in Europe’s sovereign-debt and banking crisis, and concerns over the pace of global economic growth. Facebook’s flaccid start, partly marred by a host of trading glitches, didn’t help, damping sentiment of technology stocks and the technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite.The selling came amid the heaviest trading volumes of the year. Some 2.68 billion shares changed hands in composite trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, home to Facebook’s debut, 50% above the average volume this year. The New York Stock Exchange, meanwhile, marked its fourth straight day in which at least four billion shares were traded.Facebook, which raised $18.4 billion in the offering, closed up 23 cents, or 0.6%, to $38.23. The lack of an expected first-day pop for Facebook failed to take investors’ minds away from Europe’s troubles, ahead of a weekend summit of officials of the Group of Eight leading nations at Camp David.The meeting of world leaders comes at a crucial time for Europe, which is faced with a political vacuum in Greece, rising pressures on Spain’s banks and Germany’s waning ability to promote its austerity agenda in the euro zone.Even with Facebook’s IPO, “all the things that are happening with Europe, and with Greece in particular, are weighing on everyone’s minds,” said Jill Cuniff, president of Seattle-based Edge Asset Management, which manages $20 billion in assets. “When you have such negative news coming out of Europe, that’s going to put a damper on everything else.”The Dow’s losing streak left it down 3.5% on the week, its worst five-session performance since the week ended Nov. 25, when it had fallen 4.8%.The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index suffered its worst weekly percentage decline since September, shedding 5.5% to fall to a six-month low. Germany and France’s main benchmarks also tumbled to multimonth lows.In Spain, where Moody’s Investors Service downgraded a number of that country’s banks, the IBEX 35 index closed out one of its worst weeks in history. On Thursday, the index had lost 6.5% to hit a nine-year low, before edging up 0.4% on Friday. It is off 23% this year.”It feels as though we’re further away from a resolution today than we were two months ago,” said Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners.The spotlight is likely to remain trained on Europe for much of the summer. “This is just going to be a slow grind,” Ms. Cuniff said.The worries about Europe could be felt in every corner of the U.S. asset markets. Investors continued to cling to the perceived safety of Treasurys, holding the yield on the 10-year note at 1.702%, a record closing low. Gold, which investors have flocked to in recent years during times of uncertainty, rose again to bring its two-day advance to 3.6%, finishing at $1,591.60 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, oil tumbled to its lowest level since October, settling at $91.48 a barrel.The selloff in recent weeks has wiped out nearly all of the year’s gains for the Dow, which peaked this month at a four-year high. Since then, the Dow industrials have tumbled 6.9%, shrinking its year-to-date advance to 1.2%.The last time the Dow suffered as many losses over a 13-day stretch was in October 1974, at the nadir of that decade’s bear market. For the S&P 500′s information-technology sector, the 12-day string of losses is the longest in its history.The Dow Jones Transportation Average, an index of 20 railroad, airline and shipping stocks seen as a bellwether of economic activity, saw its losses outpace those of other U.S. stock indexes on Friday, falling 1.3%, and is now in negative territory for 2012, down 2.9%.Asian markets closed lower on the back of U.S. losses and the early selloff in Europe. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average slid 3%, and China’s Shanghai Composite shed 1.4%. South Korean and Australian stocks now sit at their lowest levels of the year.In other corporate news, Salesforce.com jumped 11.78, or 8.8%, to 145.58, after the business-software maker reported fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations and provided an upbeat outlook for the year. Foot Locker climbed 2.32, or 8.3%, to 30.33, after the athletic-footwear seller reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that were well above expectations, backed by increasing margins and same-stores sales. Autodesk slumped 4.47, or 13%, to 30.26, after the design-software maker reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that matched estimates but provided a somewhat downbeat second-quarter outlook. Kraft Foods advanced 14 cents, or 0.4%, to 38.49, after the blue-chip food company said the Internal Revenue Service provided a favorable tax ruling, confirming the tax-free status of its planned North American grocery spinoff. Write to Jonathan Cheng at jonathan.cheng@wsj.com and Matt Jarzemsky at matthew.jarzemsky@dowjones.com …

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Facebook’s stock market debut finally came and went — but for all the breathless hype, shares ended right near their offering price.

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By Tomi Kilgore And Matt Jarzemsky Blue chips extended a streak of declines the likes of which hasn’t been seen in almost 40 years, amid concerns about the euro zone and Facebook’s lackluster debut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its 12th loss in 13 sessions, the worst 13-session performance since October 1974. The index lost 73.11 points, or 0.6%, to 12369.38.The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 9.64 points, or 0.7%, to 1295.22. The Nasdaq Composite shed 34.90 points, or 1.2%, to 2778.79. All three benchmarks capped their biggest weekly percentage declines of the year. The S&P 500′s information-technology sector led the index’s declines and extended its streak of daily retreats to 12, the longest ever. The group fell for nine straight days in 1998. Telecommunications shares rose.”This looks to be disappointment in the price action in Facebook after the IPO,” said Todd Salamone, director of research at Schaeffer’s Investment Research. While it seemed a little simplistic to think investor actions were being dictated by one stock, Mr. Salamone said the Dow’s drop suggested otherwise. The Dow first edged higher as Facebook opened at $42.05, or 11% above its $38 initial-public-offering price, then fell when Facebook traded down to its intraday low of $38. Facebook closed up 23 cents, or 0.6% at $38.23.The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 1.1% to a five-month low after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded a number of Spanish banks and Fitch Ratings cut Greece’s credit rating further into junk status.”It feels as though we’re further away from a resolution today than we were two months ago,” said Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners.Asian markets closed lower on the back of U.S. losses and the early selloff in Europe. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average slid 3%, and China’s Shanghai Composite shed 1.4%. Crude oil gave up 1.2%, to settle at $91.48 a barrel, while gold prices rose 1.1%, to $1,591.60 a troy ounce. The dollar lost ground against the euro and yen.In other corporate news, Kraft Foods advanced 0.4% after the blue-chip food company said the Internal Revenue Service provided a favorable tax ruling, confirming the tax-free status of its planned North American grocery spinoff. Autodesk slumped 13% after the design-software maker reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that matched estimates but provided a somewhat downbeat second-quarter outlook. Foot Locker jumped 8.3% after the athletic-footwear seller reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that were well above expectations, backed by increasing margins and same-stores sales. Salesforce.com climbed 8.8% after the business-software maker reported fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations and provided an upbeat outlook for the year. Write to Tomi Kilgore at tomi.kilgore@dowjones.com …

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