With traders shrugging off early concerns about the financial situation in Greece, stocks have turned higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after coming under pressure in early trading. Buying interest has remained somewhat subdued, however, limiting the upside for the markets.
The major averages have pulled back off their highs for the session in recent trading but remain in positive territory. The Dow is up 25.54 points or 0.2 percent at 12,870.67, the Nasdaq is up 3.86 points or 0.1 percent at 2,905.85 and the S&P 500 is up 1.49 points or 0.1 percent at 1,345.82.
The turnaround on Wall Street came amid reports that Greek officials have made progress on reaching an agreement to enact the reforms needed to receive a new bailout.
Indications that officials were struggling to reach an agreement, potentially putting Greece on track for a chaotic default, contributed to the initial weakness among stocks.
Traders also kept an eye on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, although the Fed chief's prepared remarks were unchanged from last week's comments delivered to the House Budget Committee.
In a question and answer session, Bernanke reiterated that easy monetary policy is still necessary to drive unemployment down from 8.3 percent in January.
Among individual stocks, beverage giant Coca-Cola (KO) is up by 1.2 percent after reporting fourth quarter earnings that fell sharply year-over-year but came in above analyst estimates. The company's year-ago results included a gain related to the acquisition of its North American bottling operations.
Coca-Cola also announced a new productivity and reinvestment program designed to generate annualized savings of $550 to $650 million by the end of 2015.
Yum! Brands (YUM) is also trading higher after reporting fourth quarter earnings that rose year-over-year and came in just above analyst estimates.
The company, which owns the Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC fast-food chains, also said it is well-positioned to meet or exceed its annual target of at least 10 percent earnings growth in 2012.
Sector News
While most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves in mid-day trading, significant strength has emerged among electronic storage stocks. Reflecting the strength in the storage sector, the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index is up by 1 percent after reaching a six-month intraday high.
Hutchinson Technology (HTCH) and STEC, Inc. (STEC) are turning in two of the storage sector's best performances, advancing by 5 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively.
Tobacco stocks are also seeing considerable strength on the day, with the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index up by 1.1 percent. The tobacco index reached a record intraday high earlier in the session.
On the other hand, notable weakness remains visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 1 percent loss being posted by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. Railroad and biotechnology stocks are also seeing some weakness on the day.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Tuesday, with significant weakness among Chinese stocks dragging the Shanghai Composite Index down by 1.7 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index both edged down by just 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned mixed over the course of the trading day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line and the German DAX Index slipped 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a notable move back to the downside on the day. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 7.1 basis points at 1.972 percent.
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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.