Wednesday

U.S. stocks advanced today as investors cheered a Greek austerity package and financial stocks jumped following a major settlement on mortgage-backed securities. Bank of America climbed 3% and other big banks gained ground after BofA reached an $8.5 billion settlement on investor claims over securities purchased before the U.S. housing-market collapse. In U.S. economic data, the number of people who signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes rose last month, though the figures were still low from a historical perspective. DJIA +72.73 Nasdaq +11.18 S&P 500 +10.74.