Stocks have moved modestly higher in early trading on Wednesday, although buying interest has remained relatively subdued. The major averages have all moved to the upside, adding to the slim gains posted in the previous session.
The major averages are currently posting modest gains, just off their highs for the young session. The Dow is up 8.93 points or 0.1 percent at 12,887.13, the Nasdaq is up 7.01 points or 0.2 percent at 2,911.09 and the S&P 500 is up 2.79 points or 0.2 percent at 1,349.84.
The early strength on Wall Street comes amid optimism about the latest developments in Greece, where officials are reportedly close to reaching an agreement on the reforms needed to secure a new 130 billion euro bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is reportedly meeting with the leaders of the three parties in the coalition government in order to finalize the agreement.
Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, said, "We're all tired of discussing Greece at this point and hopefully by Monday we won't have to for a while."
The continued focus on Greece comes amid another light day on the U.S. economic front, although the Mortgage Bankers Association released a report this morning showing a 7.5 percent jump in mortgage applications last week.
While most of the major sectors are showing only modest upward moves, significant strength is visible among electronic storage stocks. Reflecting the strength in the storage sector, the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index has risen by 1.4 percent to a six-month intraday high.
Steel, semiconductor, and health insurance stocks are also seeing notable strength on the day, while airline stocks are pulling back further off their recent highs.
Among individual stocks, shares of Disney (DIS) are up by 0.6 percent after the entertainment giant reported first quarter earnings that rose to $0.80 per share on revenues that edged up to $10.8 billion. While the earnings exceeded analyst estimates, the company's revenues grew less than expected.
Time Warner (TWX) is up by 2.8 percent after reporting stronger than expected fourth quarter earnings, while Sprint Nextel (S) is down by 5.3 percent after reporting a fourth quarter loss that was notably wider than in the year-ago quarter.
Fast food giant McDonald's (MCD) is nearly flat after reporting a 6.7 percent increase in global same-store sales in January. The company had forecast 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent growth.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 1.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 1.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have turned mixed over the course of the trading day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest weakness amid the optimism about Greece. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.8 basis points at 1.986 percent.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.