Dow reverses six-day losing streak with small gain

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NEW YORK – US stocks mostly bounced back slightly after a six-day losing streak Thursday, amid hopes that Greece’s moderate socialists might be able to form a government and avoid a new eurozone debt crisis.

But plunges in the shares of Cisco and Priceline after disappointing quarterly earnings reports pulled the Nasdaq down for a loss for the day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 19.98 points (0.16 percent) to 12,855.04.

The broader S&P 500 added 3.41 (0.25 percent) to 1,357.99, while the tech-rich Nasdaq lost 1.07 point (0.04 percent) to 2,933.64.

Stocks started out of the gate with strong gains after Greece’s socialists, who endorse the tough EU-IMF bailout plan for the country, were tasked to form a government after the failure of the extreme leftist Syriza party, which opposes the debt deal, to build a coalition.

Also helping was Spain’s takeover of the country’s deeply troubled Bankia bank, which helped push European markets toward positive closes.

But traders grew more cautious late in the session, with caution settling in over the eurozone picture.

“Europe remains a major global macroeconomic headache. Yet, many investors that are risk-averse have become overly cautious towards the US equity market,” said Briefing.com.

A 10.5 percent fall in Cisco shares over its lowered expectations for the new quarter pulled the Nasdaq down.

Helping out was online ticketer Priceline, which sank 5.3 percent.

News Corp shares surged 4.9 percent after it handily beat analysts’ profits forecasts for its fiscal third quarter and said it would double the size of its share buybacks to $10 billion.

Avon slipped 3.3 percent to $20.89 after the beauty products firm appeared to brush off a new takeover bid from rival Coty that offered shareholders $24.75 a share.

California electric sports car maker Tesla gained 9.7 percent after it said it moved up the delivery date for its new Model S sedan by one month to June, with thousands of people already having paid $5,000 to reserve one.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.88 percent from 1.84 percent Wednesday, while the 30-year rose to 3.05 percent from 3.04 percent. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.