Stocks rise as investors overlook weak U.S. housing data and bet on Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who won a confidence vote after U.S. markets closed Tuesday.
A no-confidence vote in Greece’s parliament late Tuesday holds the potential to be a high-stakes turning point in the nation’s fight to avoid default, but analysts think George Papandreou’s government will survive the vote.
Skepticism seems to be growing among congressional Republicans about getting a long-term deficit-reduction deal by early August in exchange for hiking the debt limit, as high-level talks restart.
J.P. Morgan Securities will pay $154 million to settle regulatory charges that it misled investors in a complex mortgage-securities transaction at the onset of the collapse of the housing market.