Monday, February 13, 2012

Global stocks rise on Greek vote

US Stocks rose on Monday, led by bank shares after Greece's parliament approved reforms needed to qualify for a cash disbursement and avoid an unruly default.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 75.91 points, or 0.59 percent, at 12,877.14, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 9.47 points, or 0.71 percent, to 1,352.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 26.14 points, or 0.90 percent, at 2,930.02, minutes after jumping 1 percent.

A low-volume rally in European shares looked to peter out as traders said short-sellers were beginning to position for a fall in the market.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed up 0.7 percent at 1,071.63 points. Volumes were at only 69.2 percent of the 90-day daily average

In Asia, the Nikkei average also rose after Greece approved its painful austerity bill. The Nikkei gained 0.6 percent to 8,999.18 but fell short of last week's February options settlement price of 9,011.16 and its 200-day moving average near 9,055.

The broader Topix ended up 0.3 percent to 781.68 and rose above its 200-day average at 780.88. Volume was lighter, with 2.05 billion shares changing hands on the main board, down from 2.36 billion shares on Friday.