US stocks rise on Greece rescue hopes

Wednesday, 08 February 2012 20:30

NEW YORK: US stocks made modest gains Wednesday amid optimism on mostly positive company news and reports that debt-wracked Greece is closing in on a rescue deal.

After a half-hour of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 9.91 points (0.08 percent) to 12,883.11.

The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 3.01 points (0.22 percent) to 1,350.06, while the Nasdaq Composite added 9.53 points (0.33 percent) to 2,913.61.

"There is mounting hope that Greek officials will soon be able to secure multi-agency bailout funds and strike a deal to avoid a disorderly default," said Jim Cunningham at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

There were no major economic indicators on the calendar, leaving investors to focus on developments in Europe and corporate earnings at home, analysts said.

Time Warner jumped 2.4 percent to $39.01. The media and entertainment giant reported fourth-quarter earnings above expectations and was upbeat about 2012.

Disney edged up 0.2 percent after posting mixed financial results for its fiscal first quarter as sales disappointed.

Yahoo! gained 0.4 percent after Tuesday's announcement of a boardroom shakeup to breathe fresh life into the pioneering Internet firm. US stocks closed in positive territory Tuesday as investors weighed reports that Greece was nearing an agreement to avoid defaulting on its massive debt. The Dow and S&P 500 gained about 0.20 percent; the Nasdaq was flat.

Bond prices fell.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.99 percent from 1.97 percent on Tuesday, while the 30-year increased to 3.16 percent from 3.14 percent.

Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.