Roundup: U.S. stocks end mildly higher on Greece hopes

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.

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.

"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.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 4.95 percent to end at 12.11 Tuesday.

In other markets, oil prices gained Tuesday amid expection of another weekly drop in U.S. crude inventories.

The U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate for August delivery, moved up 63 cents to settle at 61.01 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The global benchmark, Brent crude for August delivery increased 1.11 dollars to close at 64.45 dollars a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

The U.S. dollar climbed against most major currencies on Tuesday as new home sales data from the country came out positive, bolstering market expectation for an interest-rate hike later this year.

In late New York trading, the euro dipped to 1.1169 dollars from 1.1339 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 123.96 Japanese yen, higher than 123.39 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell Tuesday as signs of an end to the Greek debt crisis drove investors away from the precious metal.

The most active gold contract for August delivery dipped 7.5 dollars, or 0.63 percent, to settle at 1,176.60 dollars per ounce. Endite