US stocks close mildly higher on Greek elections

U.S. stocks eked out modest gains after trading in a narrow range Monday, as investors were digesting implications of the Greek national election results on the eurozone economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 6.10 points, or 0.03 percent, to 17,678.70. The S&P 500 rose 5.27 points, or 0.26 percent, to 2,057.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 13.88 points, or 0.29 percent, to 4,771.76.

Greece's anti-bailout radical left SYRIZA party has won Sunday' s national elections, according to the final official results released by the Interior Ministry Monday, Speaker of Parliament Evangelos Meimarakis announced.

The new government was expected to be under pressure in coming weeks and months from Greece's international lenders, as SYRIZA party leader Alexis Tsipras, who was sworn in as Prime Minister of Greece Monday, has pledged to reverse austerity and reform measures and push for a new write-off of part of the Greek sovereign debt.

Investors were somewhat reluctant to make big moves amid a blizzard bearing down on the New York City area from later Monday through Tuesday night, which is believed to be one of the worst storms in the city's history.

Traders will also keep a close eye on the Federal Reserve's two- day policy meeting starting Tuesday for any clues on the timing of its interest rate hike.

The energy sector was the best performer of the S&P 500's 10 sectors Monday, with Chevron Corporation shares rising 1.90 percent to 108.88 dollars apiece.

According to Thomson Reuters, of the 90 companies in the S&P 500 that had reported earnings as of Friday for the fourth quarter of 2014, 72 percent had reported earnings above market expectations. This is above the long-term average of 63 percent and is above the average over the past four quarters of 69 percent.

Meanwhile, 54 percent of the companies had reported fourth- quarter revenue above market expectations.

U.S. stocks closed mixed Friday after a four-session winning streak, but the three benchmark indices still capped last week with gains, boosted by the European Central Bank's stimulus plans.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, declined 6.84 percent to end at 15.52 Monday.

In other markets, the U.S. dollar strengthened against most major currencies as investors were awaiting the Federal Reserve's policy meeting slated for Tuesday. In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1266 dollars from 1.1248 dollars in the previous session. The dollar bought 118.47 Japanese yen, higher than 117.74 yen of the previous session.

Oil prices went down on market expectation that global supply would surpass the demand.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery dropped 44 cents to settle at 45.15 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell sharply Monday on profit-taking ahead of the Fed's policy meeting.

The most active gold contract for February delivery lost 13.2 dollars, or 1.02 percent, to settle at 1,279.40 dollars per ounce.

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