NEW YORK, June 30 (UPI) -- U.S. markets rose quickly Thursday on the strength of an agreement in Greece to pass an austerity budget amendment.
Investors are keeping an eye on Athens, where legislators will vote on details of the spending plan Thursday. The budget cuts were accepted in principle Wednesday.
The U.S. Labor Department said first-time jobless claims dropped by 1,000 in the week ending June 25, which is not a significant enough decline to boost stocks by much.
In midmorning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average added 118.03 points or 0.96 percent to 12,379.50. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 9.37 or 0.72 percent to 1,316.78. The Nasdaq composite index rose 22.72 or 0.83 percent to 2,763.21.
The benchmark 10-year treasury note fell 7/32 to yield 3.16 percent.
The euro rose to $1.4477 from Wednesday's $1.4434. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 80.721 yen from Wednesday's 80.77 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 0.19 percent, 18.83, to 9,816.09.
