WALL STREET : Greek Hopes Nudge Dow Towards 13K

DJIA At Highest Level Since May 2008

After yesterday's decisive march into the black, U.S. stocks closed with mixed results today, as Wall Street adopted a wait-and-see attitude heading into the long holiday weekend. That's because the Greek debt drama could be put to rest as early as Monday, when euro-zone finance ministers will meet in Brussels to discuss the possible bailout. But if only it were that easy... ahead of that Eurogroup summit, tensions are heightened between Greek officials and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, keeping alive the all-too-familiar risk that economic relief for Greece could be delayed. On the domestic front, January's consumer price index and the Conference Board's index of leading indicators couldn't divert much attention from the news brewing abroad. Against this backdrop, however, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) tagged new multi-year highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA – 12,949.87) charged as high as 12,967.92 -- its highest price since May 20, 2008 -- in the last hour of trading, but pared its gain to 45.79 points, or 0.35%. Among the Dow's 30 components, Alcoa (AA) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) led the 11 stragglers, giving up 1.3% and 1%, respectively. On the flip side, Intel (INTC) paced the bullish majority, adding 2%. 

For the week, the blue-chip barometer gain a healthy 1.16%.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX – 1,361.23) ended near its session high of 1,363.40, inching up 3.2 points, or 0.2%. Finally, the Nasdaq Composite (COMP – 2,951.78) fared the worst of its peers, dropping 8.1 points, or 0.3%. In early trading, the tech-rich benchmark touched the 2,962.78 mark -- its highest level since Dec. 13, 2000. For the week, the SPX gained 1.4%, while the COMP rose 1.7%. 

HAPPY TRADING