Greece pledge helps US shares

Stocks on Wall Street rose for a second day as European financial leaders pledged to head off a Greek debt default.

Although they failed to agree on a new bailout package at the weekend, they did put off a decision to mid-July.

The Dow Jones Industrial Averagewas up 76.55 points, or 0.6%, to 12,080.91 at the close (8am NZ time). The S&P 500 index added 0.5% to 1278.36 while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.5% to 2629.66.

All S&P 500 sectors gained, with consumer discretionary and industrial stocks in the lead. Financial stocks were weakest.

Caterpillar gained 1.6% and Microsoft rose 1.5% to lead the blue-chip Dow.

Stocks ended of a six-week losing streak on Friday, leaving the Nasdaq Composite in negative territory for the year.

Other markets: Europe, Asia drop
Bank stocks led European markets lower after euro-zone finance ministers delayed a decision on providing further aid for Greece.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended down 0.5% at 265.76. Since the end of May it has lost about 5.4%.

In London, the FTSE 100 index closed down 0.4% at 5693.39, the French CAC 40 index closed down 0.6% at 3799.66 and the German DAX 30 index was down 0.2% at 7150.21.

Indian stocks, once the investing darlings of Asia, slipped toward the lowest point of the year.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index (Sensex) fell 363.90 points, or 2%, to 17,506.63. That left it less than 44 points away from the lowest close of 2011, hit in February, of 17,463.04.

The Sensex is the worst-performing index among major Asian markets for 2011, down 13%.

Elsewhere in Asia, mainland bank stocks fell in Hong Kong and China, dragged by a broker's downgrade of the sector, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average managed to cling to slim advance.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gave up 0.4% to 21,599.51. The Shanghai Composite shed 0.8% to 2621.25.

Korea's Kospi slid 0.6% 2019.65, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.7% to 4451.7 and the Nikkei ended at 9354.32.

Commodities: Oil falls, gold rises
Crude futures fell on concerns that Greece's debt crisis will lead to a slowdown in the global economy.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery was 43USc, or 0.5%, lower at $US92.58 a barrel in New York, after falling as low as $US91.14 a barrel earlier in the session.

Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $US1.19 higher at $US112.02 a barrel.

Gold futures rose as delays in granting Greece a new aid package renewed concerns of a possible euro-zone default.

Gold for August delivery, the most actively traded contract, was up $US1.80, or 0.1%, at $US1540.90 an ounce in New York.

Thinly traded June-delivery gold was up 10USc at $US1538.70 an ounce.

Currencies: Euro pares losses
The delayed Greek rescue decision helped the euro trade back to almost even against the US dollar.

The euro also reversed direction against the yen and made modest gains.

The euro was at $US1.4326 from $US1.4312 late on Friday.

The dollar was at ¥80.23 from ¥80.05, while the euro was at ¥114.94 from ¥114.51.

The UK pound was at $US1.6230 from $US1.6193. The dollar bought 0.8411 Swiss franc from 0.8486.