LONDON: Stocks ended higher Wednesday, recovering the most of their losses from the day before, as Greece appeared closer to resolving its latest debt issues.
However, the overall market remains directionless as most investors are focused on figuring out when the Federal Reserve’s long-awaited interest rate increase may come.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 121.45 points, or 0.7 percent, to 18,162.99. It had fallen 190 points on Tuesday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 19.28 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,123.48 and the Nasdaq composite rose 73.84 points, or 1.5 percent, to 5,106.59.
The stock market was barely higher for the first half of the day, but gained momentum in the afternoon after Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said his country is near a deal with its creditors. Tsipras stressed that “calm and determination” were needed in the final stretch of negotiations.
Greece might miss a debt payment on June 5 if it fails to receive bailout funds from creditors, who are demanding that the country make reforms to its economy. It is unclear whether an agreement can be reached in time and Greece is dealing with three different creditor institutions: the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank.
