US stocks rebound despite Greece uncertainty

U.S. stocks ended mildly higher on Tuesday, a day after their worst session of the year, as investors were assessing the impacts of the unfolding Greek debt crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 23.16 points, or 0.13 percent, to 17,619.51. The S&P 500 increased 5.48 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,063.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 28.40 points, or 0.57 percent, to 4,986.87.

The Eurogroup will hold another teleconference Wednesday morning to discuss new proposals from Greece, said the spokesman of Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem on Tuesday.

Greece's government proposed a two-year debt deal with the European Stability Mechanism in a last-minute bid to avert default and a possible Grexit, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' office said on Tuesday.

The statement was issued hours before the ongoing Greek bailout was due to expire on Tuesday at midnight amid increased concern over Greece's dire financial straits.

Earlier on Tuesday, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis had said that Athens would not repay the loan installment due to the International Monetary Fund, also due Tuesday.

European equities declined on Greece news on Tuesday, with the French benchmark index CAC 40 dipping 1.63 percent.

In Asia, Chinese shares bounced back from early morning losses and closed sharply higher on Tuesday following a nightmarish fortnight. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plummeted over 5 percent in early trading before ending at 4,277.22 points, up 5.53 percent.

On the economic front, the New York-based research group Conference Board said Tuesday in its monthly survey that U.S. consumer confidence continued to increase in June. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rose from 94.6 in May to 101.4 in June, well above market consensus of 97.4.

U.S. stocks suffered big losses Monday, with the Nasdaq diving 2.40 percent, as the deteriorating Greek debt crisis rattled market sentiment.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 3.29 percent to end at 18.23 Tuesday.

In other markets, oil prices bounced from three-week lows on Tuesday as investors awaited a Greek debt default.

The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery moved up 1.14 U. S. dollars to settle at 59.47 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for August delivery increased 1.58 dollars to close at 63.59 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Future Exchange.

The U.S. dollar climbed against the euro Tuesday as Greek debt situation worsened.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1144 dollars from 1.1248 dollars in the previous session, while the greenback bought 122.33 Japanese yen, lower than 122.46 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange went down Tuesday as the U.S. dollar strengthened versus the euro in the wake of the worsening Greek debt crisis.

The most active gold contract for August delivery lost 7.2 dollars, or 0.61 percent, to settle at 1,171.80 dollars per ounce.