US stocks rise ahead of Greek vote

NEW YORK: US stocks rose as markets opened Tuesday in hopes that Greece's government would survive a confidence vote, a crucial first step in defusing the country's debt crisis and stabilizing Europe's finances.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 54.38 points (0.45 percent) to 12,134.76 in the first half-hour of trading.

The broader S&P 500 was up 8.08 points (0.63 percent) to 1,286.44, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 25.22 points (0.96 percent) to reach 2,654.88.

Investors were closely watching events in Greece, where the government of Prime Minister George Papandreou has been struggling to push through a package of deep austerity cuts to satisfy the International Monetary Fund and eurozone finance ministers.

US stock markets have trended upward in recent days amid optimism that Europe will succeed in stopping Greek contagion from damaging the continent's banking system.

"The market can be deemed to be hopeful that this will all come to pass, because that is the message embedded in the equity market's rebound effort the last few sessions," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.

"A vote of no confidence tonight, however, would presumably change that thinking," he added.

Separately, market participants will also be closely watching the outcome of Tuesday and Wednesday's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the body within the Federal Reserve that sets interest rates, to see if the Fed will continue its economic stimulus policies.

Existing-home sales declined 3.8 percent in May from April, the National Association of Realtors said in a monthly report, underlining continued weakness in the US economy.

Shares of Encana fell 1.7 percent after the Canadian energy giant announced that it was ending talks with China's state-owned PetroChina on a joint venture to develop a major shale gas project.

Best Buy jumped 2.2 percent on news that the US electronics retailer was raising its dividend and launching a $5 billion share buyback program.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose to 2.98 percent from 2.96 percent on Monday, while that on the 30-year bond climbed to 4.22 percent from 4.20 percent.

Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011