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U.S. stocks trade higher after Greek vote

Xinhua, July 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks rose in the morning session Thursday as Greek parliament approved a bill with an overwhelming majority to give the go-ahead to the debt deal the government reached Monday with international creditors.

By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 33.84 points, or 0.19 percent, to 18,084.01. The S&P 500 gained 14.00 points, or 0.66 percent, to 2,121.40. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 52. 48 points, or 1.03 percent, to 5,151.42.

The parliament also agreed on the first round of reform measures requested as prerequisites for the immediate release of international aid to avert debt default and Grexit from the European Union (EU).

After the voting, the Greek leader was expected to proceed with a wide cabinet reshuffle Thursday, according to local political analysts.

Meanwhile, the Eurogroup on Thursday agreed to offer Greece a three-year grant from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), following the Greek parliament's approval of austerity measures demanded by creditors earlier in the day.

On the economic front, in the week ending July 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 281,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week's revised level and roughly in line with market consensus, said the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 282,500, an increase of 3,250 from the previous week's revised average.

A batch of notable companies reported quarterly results Thursday.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. fell 1.42 percent around midday after its second-quarter earnings missed market expectations. The bank announced net revenues of 9.07 billion U.S. dollars, net earnings of 1.05 billion dollars and diluted earnings per common share of 1.98 dollars for the second quarter.

Citigroup Inc. reported net income of 4.8 billion dollars for the second quarter 2015, or 1.51 dollars per diluted share, on revenues of 19.5 billion dollars, beating market estimates. Its shares jumped 3.44 percent around midday.

U.S. stocks snapped a four-day winning streak to end slightly lower Wednesday, as investors digested Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's remarks delivered in the first of her two-day Congressional testimony. Endite