The Closing Look

Stocks rallied nicely on Wednesday as buyers showed up and added to Tuesday’s gain. Overnight, the latest “deal” was reached for Greece which helped ease concerns about another debt scare. The euro zone gave Greece its firmest offer so far of debt relief in what finance ministers called a breakthrough deal that won a provisional commitment from the IMF to return to taking part in the bailout for Athens. European stocks were higher on the news and the buying continued in our market. Financials and semiconductors continued to lead which bodes well for the near term outlook. In economic news, the Markit Flash U.S. services PMI for May came in at 51.2, down from 52.8 in April and well below the long-run survey average of 55.6. The Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index rose 0.7%, in March, beating estimates for a gain of 0.5%.

Gary’s Thoughts: No complaints. End of month and pre-holiday trading is working.