Stocks Close Mixed on Greece Bailout Questions

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks posted a mixed close Tuesday as the Dow pulled off the 13,000 mark and the market gave Greece's second bailout package a tepid reception.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 16.2 points, or 0.1%, at 12,966, after breaching the psychologically significant level of 13,000 for the first time since May 2008. Twenty two of the 30 blue-chip components rose, with Alcoa(AA) , Kraft(KFT) and Caterpillar(CAT) leading gains. Wal-Mart(WMT) , Travelers(TRV) and Merck(MRK) were the biggest laggards.

The S&P 500 finished up 1 point, or 0.07%, at 1362. The Nasdaq slipped 3.2 points, or 0.1%, to 2948.

"The escalation of commitments is enough to create momentum in equities," says Michael Gayed, chief investment strategist at Pension Partners, who notes that the markets have been sensing a "dramatic shift" to the return of inflation expectations -- paving the way for conditions conducive to a stock rally.

"The poor treasury inflation-protected securities auction of last week was indicative of the idea that investors now may see stocks as the inflation hedge."

"There's a direct connection between volatility and deflation scares," he said. But, "none of this happening today."

Over the extended President's Day weekend in the U.S., European finance ministers scrambled to consolidate a debt rescue plan needed to prevent Greece from defaulting on more than €14 billion in bond redemptions due on March 20. Although the €130 billion ($173 billion) package was finalized after more than 13 hours of talks in Brussels, concerns remained about the support for the plan.