Markets Advance On Hopes That Greece Will Not Default

Consumer confidence fell in June but the markets advanced during the midday with the Dow surging 125 points to 12,168 over optimism that Greece will avoid a default by approving new austerity measures. Nasdaq soared 31 points to 2720.

On the upside

Nike (NYSE: NKE) reported higher fourth quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations as revenue rose.

Bargain hunters lifted shares of Renren (NYSE: RENN), whose shares have dropped recently as investors shunned Chinese stocks.

Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW) launched its BeKnown professional networking application for Facebook.

On the downside

Muddy Waters questioned Spreadtrum's (Nasdaq: SPRD) financial statements and disclosed a short position in the chip maker.

Shares of Altria (NYSE: MO) fell after the Supreme Court decided not to review a $241 million judgment with an additional $37 million in interest against the tobacco industry requiring tobacco companies to pay for a Louisiana anti-smoking campaign.

JPMorgan's (NYSE: JPM) China venture received a permit to enter the securities market in China but the stock price fell.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 9 points to 814.