Stocks gain on Greek optimism
NEW YORK - Reuters
The U.S. and European stocks rose yesterday over progress toward easing Greece’s debt burden.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 51 points, or 0.4 percent, at 12,888 in the first 45 minutes of trading. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 8 to 1,360. The Nasdaq composite index rose 18 at 2,953.
The market was headed for its second day of gains following a 203-point plunge in the Dow on March 6.
Investors were keeping their eyes on a 20.00 GMT deadline for private investors to decide whether to swap $140 billion in Greek government bonds for new ones worth much less. If not enough private bondholders take part in the exchange, Greece could default in the next two weeks. The Greek deadline was not over before the Daily News went to print.
