-Sharp rise in West Texas crude futures.
-Obama says there is still time for diplomacy to work in Iran.

Dow Jones Industrials: 0.29%
Nasdaq Composite: 0.03%
S&P 500: 0.29%

US equities are still trading slightly higher following this morning´s agreement between Greece and its official and private sector creditors, which is expected to open the way for a second bail-out package, and a long holiday weekend.

Of note, the rise seen in West Texas crude futures as investors react to some negative news-flow in the energy complex.

As well, the latest quarterly company earnings announcements have come in a bit mixed today. Amongst those firms which seem to have undershot analysts´ expectations are Ciena, Wal Mart, Medtronic and Medco.

Results from Wal Mart are particularly noteworthy as it is the world´s largest listed retailer, as well as the biggest one in the United States. The company´s sales rose 5.8% to $122.3bn (Consensus: $123.92bn) in the fourth quarter, purportedly as low-income customers were hit by the rise in unemployment.

Telecommunications gear maker Ciena is falling sharply as well. The firm has cut its revenue guidance for the quarter ended on the past 31st of January to $415m, from between $435m and $455m previously expected.

Earnings results from Macy’s and Saks, on the other hand, have come in ahead of forecasts.

Bank holding company CIT Group may benefit from a positive mention in the latest edition of Barron´s.

Casino operator Wynn Resorts is rallying 5.7% after buying out its largest shareholder’s stake at a 31% discount and asking him to leave the board after a bribery probe.

Of interest, as a backdrop, the S&P 500 index’s so-called earnings yield is at 7.1%, close to the highest on record when compared with the 10-year Treasury rate, according to data compiled by Bloomberg since 1962.

From a sector stand-point the best performance is now to be seen in the following groups: platinum&precious metals (10%), aluminium (3.11%) and gold (3.11%).

OTHER MARKETS

Front month West Texas crude futures are now rising sharply, by 0.77%, to the $106.12/barrel mark in NYMEX trading.

10 year US Treasuries are off by 20/32 dollars, with yields at 2.07%.

S&P 500 – Risers
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $119.88 +6.38%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $187.07 +4.60%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $53.04 +3.72%
Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW) $9.56 +3.70%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $57.56 +3.47%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $61.43 +3.33%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $10.48 +3.30%
Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) $51.69 +3.26%
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) $44.36 +3.07%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $37.36 +2.95%

S&P 500 – Fallers
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $51.60 -5.37%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $9.04 -4.10%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $59.98 -4.00%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $45.13 -3.98%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $48.22 -3.89%
Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) $32.06 -3.08%
DeVry Inc. (DV) $36.51 -3.08%
Novellus Systems Inc. (NVLS) $45.39 -2.89%
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) $85.68 -2.69%
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) $41.53 -2.68%

Dow Jones I.A – Risers
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $10.48 +3.30%
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $38.72 +1.88%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $8.17 +1.87%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $115.90 +1.71%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $108.31 +1.55%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $86.69 +1.25%
AT&T Inc. (T) $30.29 +0.93%
General Electric Co. (GE) $19.41 +0.67%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $38.70 +0.60%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $20.41 +0.59%

Dow Jones I.A – Fallers
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $59.98 -4.00%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $59.32 -0.89%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $27.15 -0.80%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $29.42 -0.57%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $38.34 -0.57%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $64.63 -0.43%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $41.63 -0.28%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $193.25 -0.09%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $83.72 -0.07%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $69.02 -0.04%

Nasdaq 100 – Risers
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $119.88 +6.38%
Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) $24.51 +2.94%
Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE) $46.86 +2.05%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $43.00 +1.90%
Logitech International S.A. (LOGI) $8.88 +1.83%
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ADS (TEVA) $45.46 +1.81%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $510.65 +1.70%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $44.90 +1.63%
Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $38.21 +1.46%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $16.03 +1.14%

Nasdaq 100 – Fallers
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $51.60 -5.37%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $37.58 -4.23%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $45.13 -3.98%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $48.22 -3.89%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $40.75 -2.93%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $133.20 -2.70%
Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $16.62 -2.24%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $38.14 -1.98%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $11.99 -1.92%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $21.05 -1.86%

AB