NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks closed slightly higher Tuesday as investors continued to monitor talks between Greece and its creditors in hopes that a deal will be reached to keep the country from falling out of the eurozone.
Investments typically considered less risky, such as bonds, gold and utilities stocks, declined.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 28.23 points, or 0.2 percent, to 18,047.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 3.35 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,100.34 and the Nasdaq composite rose 5.43 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,899.27.
With Tuesday's gains, the S&P 500 is at another record high. U.S. markets were closed Monday for Washington's Birthday.
Stock indexes had been lower most of the day, but recovered their losses on reports that progress was being made between Greece and its creditors.
Greece is going to request an extension on its loan agreement, government officials said Tuesday. It's an effort to reach a last-minute deal with the country's European lenders and avoid the danger of a euro exit.
After five years of tax increases and cuts to government services, Greece wants to scrap its existing program in favor of a new one with easier terms. If no agreement is reached by the end of the month, investors expect that Greece may have little option but to default and stop using the euro currency. Most analysts expect a deal will be reached in time.
"Greece's new government wants more independence, but it doesn't want that independence at all costs," said Anastasia Amoroso, a global market strategist at JPMorgan Funds. "The extension is good news because it buys Greece and the eurozone time to reach a long-term resolution."
While the major stock indexes moved little Tuesday, investors made noticeable moves out of the traditional safe havens: bonds, gold and dividend-paying stocks such as utilities.
The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year note jumped to 2.14 percent from 2.05 percent on Friday.
Bond yields have been climbing sharply the past two weeks as investors become more confident that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year. Also investors have been using U.S. Treasury notes as a safe play against Greece and euro-denominated government bonds. If a solution is found for Greece, it would make European stocks more attractive and give investors less of a reason to be holding ultrasafe U.S. government debt.
The Fed will release the minutes of its January policy meeting today. Investors expect the language to signal that the nation's central bank is on track for a modest rate increase as early as June.
In metals, gold fell $18.50, or 1.5 percent, to $1,208.60 an ounce. Silver fell 92 cents, or 5 percent, to $16.40 an ounce and copper fell 2 cents, or 1 percent, to $2.58 a pound.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 75 cents to close at $53.53 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell $1.13 to close at $62.53 a barrel in London.
Business on 02/18/2015