Wall St. ends higher but energy falls

U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday but were down from earlier highs as energy stocks declined and Greece’s debt crisis showed no clear signs of resolution.

Canadian markets were closed Wednesday for Canada Day.

The benchmark S&P 500’s energy sector was dragged down by the biggest slide in oil prices since April after traders were surprised by a report that showed U.S. crude stockpiles rose for the first time in more than two months.

Eurozone central bank chiefs kept in place their cap on a funding lifeline to Greece, maintaining pressure as Greece’s banks run out of cash. The country’s banks have been shut since Monday ahead of a Sunday referendum on the bailout package offered by its international lenders last week.

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said Athens aims to secure a deal Monday and would be willing to accept “strict” conditions in a new bailout package, if the sustainability of Greece’s debt is guaranteed.

Investor hopes for a Greek debt deal, which earlier had helped drive a rally, ebbed during the day, according to Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors Inc. in San Antonio.

“Until it’s all said and done they’re just jockeying for position back and forth. The negotiation process still isn’t over,” Matousek said.

Many investors were also holding off ahead of Thursday’s scheduled release of the closely watched U.S. non-farm payroll report for June while the three-day weekend celebrating the U.S. July Fourth holiday kept others away, said Brian Fenske, head of sales trading at ITG in New York.

While the market was primarily driven by Greece’s woes, stronger-than-expected jobs and construction data gave stocks some support as did Swiss insurance giant ACE Ltd’s $28 billion offer for upmarket property insurer Chubb Corp.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 138.4 points, or 0.79 per cent, to 17,757.91, the S&P 500 gained 14.31 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 2,077.42, and the Nasdaq added 26.26 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 5,013.12.

The S&P energy sector fell 1.3 per cent, the only S&P sector in the red on Wednesday. U.S. crude oil futures settled down 4.2 per cent at US$56.96 a barrel. Brent settled off 2.5 per cent at US$62.01.