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Wall Street up on Greece, but gains seen limited

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Reuters New York
Last Updated : Mar 05 2013 | 8:51 PM IST

US stocks edged up slightly Friday, but investors were wary of making big bets heading into a holiday weekend when Greece's bailout plan is expected to be approved.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 23.35 points, or 0.18%, at 12,927.43. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.84 points, or 0.14%, at 1,359.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 4.71 points, or 0.16%, at 2,955.14.

The rise in the S&P 500 continued after the index posted its best daily gain in two weeks on Thursday, touching a 9-month high.

Greek officials said they have done everything asked of them for Eurozone finance ministers to approve a 130-billion-euro ($170 billion) rescue package on Monday, when the US market will be closed for the Presidents Day holiday.

Equity markets have tended to react positively on progress on helping Greece avoid a chaotic bailout. Agreements at times, however, have broken down at the last minute.

"The trend here is to move higher, in the absence of a crisis coming out of Europe. But going into next week, which is when the conclusion [from Greece] is expected, fund managers and traders will be a little bit nervous because our market will be closed on Monday," said Jack DeGan, chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

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"I wouldn't be surprised if the gains today are muted, or even if we end slightly lower as hedging may feed to the downside."

General Mills Inc cut its 2012 outlook on Friday, citing weak sales volume, and its shares fell more than 3%.

Gilead Sciences shares fell 14% after some patients treated with its experimental hepatitis C drug, which the company acquired with its $11 billion buy of Pharmasset, experienced a relapse of the infection.

Data showed US consumer prices rose 0.2% in January, the most in four months, highlighting concerns of growing energy costs.

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First Published: Feb 17 2012 | 12:00 AM IST

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