Off the wire
• China, U.S. launch new partnership programs to tackle environmental issues  • Chicago corn, wheat jump on crop report, soybeans down  • Lack of funding holds back peacebuilding efforts: UN official  • UN chief welcomes Int'l Day for Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict  • Burundi's ruling party rejects dialogue ahead of elections  • Urgent: U.S. stocks end mildly higher on Greece hopes  • Gaza rocket hits southern Israel  • Int'l aid delivered to Yemen to cope with health crisis  • Blast kills one security personnel injured six others in NW Pakistan  • News Analysis: "Culture wars" hits a nerve with divides in Israeli society  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks end mildly higher on Greece hopes

Xinhua, June 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index eclipsing previous day's closing record, as Greek debt talks continue on the positive track.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 24.29 points, or 0.13 percent, to 18,144.07. The S&P 500 edged up 1.35 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,124.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 6.12 points, or 0.12 percent, to 5,160.09.

The European Central Bank increased its emergency liquidity funds to Greek banks for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, according to media reports.

With no breakthrough during Monday's Eurogroup summit in Brussels, talks on the long-awaited deal for the Greek debt resolution will be continued with a view to striking a compromise by the weekend, according to the Greek government and its international lenders.

On Monday, Greece submitted its latest proposals for reforms which Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said was "broad and comprehensive" and was seen as "a positive step in the process."

European equities ended higher on the improvement in Greek debt situation on Tuesday, with the French benchmark index CAC 40 rising 1.18 percent.

In Asia, Tokyo stocks ended at a 15-year high Tuesday as hopes for Greek debt deal boosted market sentiment.

On the economic front, U.S. new orders for manufactured durable goods in May decreased 4.1 billion U.S. dollars or 1.8 percent to 228.9 billion dollars, exceeding market consensus of a 0.6-percent decline, the Department of Commerce announced Tuesday.

"With the possibility of a rate increase nearing, concerns of rising mortgage rates are likely to lead a surge in home sales this summer before resulting in a fall pullback," said Sophia Kearney-Lederman, an economic analyst at FTN Financial, in a note.

In a separate report, the Department of Commerce said U.S. sales of new single-family houses in May 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 546,000, beating market expectations. This is 2.2 percent above the revised April rate of 534,000 and is 19.5 percent above the May 2014 estimate of 457,000. Endite