Wall Street: Dow pulls back from 13,000

Blue chip stocks on Wall Street briefly passed through the 13,000 level for the first time since before the financial crisis.

But as the session continued, investor sentiment waned.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average first pierced the 13,000 at 11:30am (5.30am NZ time), fell back and then did it again just after midday.

At the close (10am NZ time), the Dow's gains had slipped to just 16.27 points, or 0.1%, at 12,966.14. It last traded at the 13,000 level on May 20, 2008.

The S&P 500 index was also up 0.1% to 1362.25. Only four of the S&P sectors were higher, led by energy and materials stocks.

Among blue chips, Alcoa rose the most, gaining 2.4%, followed by Chevron, which was up 2.1%.

Technology stopcks were lower, with the Nasdaq Composite finishing down 0.1% at 2948.57.

Other markets: Europe down, Asia mixed
European markets gave back some of the previous session's gains as investors expressed caution over whether the bailout deal has solved Greece's debt problems.

Eurozone finance ministers agreed to a €130 billion rescue deal that requires private creditors to take a 53.5% haircut on their Greek debt. That is more than the 50% agreed on in October.

The Stoxx Europe 600 ended down 0.5% at 266.78. London's FTSE 100 Index was 0.4% lower at 5928.10, Frankfurt's DAX was down 0.6% at 6908.18 and Paris' CAC-40 Index was down 0.2%, at 3465.24.

Asian markets were mixed after the Greek deal news. Japan's Nikkei Average slipped 0.2% to 9463.02 while China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.8% to 2381.43.

Korea's Kospi closed flat at 2024.24 but Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.3% to 21,478.72 after moving in and out of positive territory during the session. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.8% to 4291.20.

Commodities: Oil at nine-month high, gold up, too
Crude futures rose sharply on optimism that the bailout of Greece would ease the continent's economic woes and boost oil demand.

The expiring March delivery contract closed up $US2.60, or 2.5%, at $US105.84 a barrel in New York, the highest front-month settlement since May 4, 2011. The more heavily traded April contract setled up $US2.65, or 2.6%, at $US106.25 a barrel.

Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe settled $US1.61, or 0.9%, up at $US121.66 a barrel, also a nine-month high.

Gold futures benefitted from positive market sentiment after the approval of a second bailout for Greece, rising to its highest since February 2.

Gold for April delivery settled $US32.60, or 1.9%, up at $US1758.50 an ounce in New York.

Currencies: Euro bounces back
The euro recovered from early losses in the wake of the long-awaited bailout for Greece.

The euro was at $US1.3249 from $US1.3242 late on Monday. The US dollar was at ¥79.69 from ¥79.63 and at 0.9117 Swiss franc compared with 0.9116 franc.

The UK pound bought $US1.5784 from $US1.5851.