NEW YORK (Reuters)-stocks closed off session Lows so Thursday on news Greece agreed to an austerity plan for five years, but lingering economic uncertainties ultimately led S & P 500 less, while maintaining a downward trend.
Nearly 30 percent of the daily volume traded in the last hour. That coincided with the turnaround in the market and news of Greece, which laid the basis for a resolution of credit problems in Athens that have hurt investor sentiment around the globe.
"The agreement on the austerity plan, which is really what has the market going," said Paul Hickey, co-founder of bespoke investment group of Harrison, New York.
The question now remains if the soaring end day is a harbinger of renewed interest in buying or if it was only a pause before sale returns in the coming days.
"We're going title for title, which is typical of a market pullback," said Hickey. "There is a lot of tangible evidence for investors to go now."
S & P 500 fell in less than a half-point of its 200-day moving average-a line the Bulls were able to hold since last September. Technical analysts monitor that level as an indication of the long-term trend, and a tight consistency under it could trigger sell more.
"It is certainly positive and encourages people," said Hickey.
Sources with knowledge of the talks told Reuters that Greece has won the support of a team of inspectors from the European Union and International Monetary Fund for his new austerity plan of five years after committing a further cycle of tax increases and spending cuts.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) fell to 59.67 points, or 0.49 percent, to end at 12.050. The Poors 500 (Standard &.SPX) lost points 3.64 or 0.28%, up to 1, 283.50. But the Nasdaq Composite (.17.56 IXIC) earned points, or 0.66 percent, to close at 2, 686.75.
An analysis on measurement showed that the S & P 500 posted the strongest comeback in nearly a year, in the days when the benchmark fell more than 1 percent. From its session low, the index rose more than 20 points in closing.
Dow swings covered 233.79 points intraday low to high session. For the second straight day, the Nasdaq managed to finish the session in positive territory for the year.
MICRON AND ORACLE LATE AUTUMN
After the closing bell, Micron Technology (MU.O) actions fell nearly 13 percent as the company's quarterly revenue fell short of expectations.
Oracle Corp. (ORCL.O) fell 3.3 percent share in extended trading as investors were disappointed that beat his profit estimates with a narrower margin than in recent quarters.
Earlier in the day, markets were sold during the regular session as oil's slide to a trimester down triggered declines in a market already bad after comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday on a recovery of economic slowdown.
Skepticism remained despite the deal Greek as details were not yet known and any agreement still had to win a vote in Parliament.
"When is 3 hours on a Thursday afternoon and short sellers see this title (affair of Greece), they cover questions before and after," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York.
He said, since there was already a plan pending a vote, the difference might be a change in terms that might make it easier to move to the Parliament in Athens next week.
U.S. crude oil Futures settled at $ 91.02 a barrel, down $4,39 or disable 4.6 percent, after the International Energy Agency said it will release 60 million barrels of strategic oil stocks. For details, see
The slide in oil prices was exacerbated by a rise of 0.7 percent in US dollar index (.DXY), which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of major currencies. In times of stress, the flight to safety that pushes the top dollar makes oil more expensive, undermining further the demand for crude and other commodities priced in dollars.
Give some support to the market, oil prices tumbling raised an index of stocks of airlines (.XAL) of 2.4%.
Bets that the lower prices at the pump will open the wallets of consumers boosted the retail sector index P (S &.RLX) by 1.4 per cent.
S & P BOUNCING KEY SUPPORT
Bounce & P's 500 outside its 200-day moving average was the second in a week. Last Thursday, a brush with that level enticed buyers and the reference index closed in black for the day. The 200-day moving average now coincides with the intraday high of 262.60 1, 2010, giving extra support.
"What it means is that if you make trading momentum, you can place bets, and a lot of big money is doing, momentum trading," said George Feiger, CEO of Contango Capital Advisors in San Francisco.
"But the story of the big picture remains the same. We are looking at the growth of small and very small return in stocks for the coming years. "
His view differs from median of 46 respondents equity strategists in the last week, which showed an expectation of an increase of 11 percent in the S P 500 & for the year, which would take 1,400.
Economically, the United States claims for unemployment insurance rose more than expected last week, suggesting little improvement in the labour market. Other data showed sales of new homes fell in May.
About 8.31 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, above the average so far this year of 7.57 billion.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange in a ratio of 17 to 13. But on the Nasdaq, about seven rosa stocks fell for every six.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Further notification from Ashley Lau; Editing by Jan Pasquale)
