Overnight Markets: Wall Street ends flat in late rally on Greece

Wall Street closed little changed on Tuesday as stocks erased losses in the final half hour amid optimism that Greece will commit to budget cuts.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained four points, or 0.03%, to 12,878. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined one point to 1,351. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed flat at 2,932.

Buyers jumped to the stock market late in the session after a Greek government source said the conservative party leader was expected to deliver a letter of commitment to the country's international lenders. Eurozone finance ministers will hold a telephone conference call on Wednesday about a €130 billion bailout to avert a chaotic Greek default.

There was a weaker-than-expected gain in retail sales in January, economic data showed, but a rebound in an underlying measure of sales pointed to an improving economy.

Materials and financials were the worst performing sectors. Bank of America shed 3.3% as Citigroup cut its recommendation. Citigroup fell 2.4%. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold declined 3.8%.

Retailers rose with the auto supplier BorgWarner adding 0.7% after posting a fourth-quarter profit.

In technology sector, Micron Technology shares gained 6.2% after positive comments from analysts at JPMorgan and Oppenheimer. Apple gained 1.4% amid a report said the company planned to announce a new version of its iPad in the first week of March. Yahoo! slumped 4.7% as talks on an Asia asset swap are said to have stalled.

Elsewhere, Masco tumbled 12% after the home improvement and building products maker reported a wider-than-projected loss. Boeing gained 1% after signing a 230-aircraft order worth $22.4 billion.

In Asia, equities gained on Wednesday by midday led by Japanese banks after the Bank of Japan expanded its asset-purchase program and amid optimism Greece will commit to austerity measures.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.3% to 127 as of 12:03 p.m. in Tokyo. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 1.8%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3%, while South Korea’s Kospi Index increased 0.9%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 1.4% and the Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China’s stock exchanges, rose 0.5% reversing an earlier loss.

In company news, Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor advanced as Elpida touched its lowest price in at least eight years. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gained 4.1%. Westfield Group surged 5.7% in Sydney after its second-half profit jumped five-fold.