US stocks end down for the quarter

US stocks have ended down for the quarter, although a Wall Street rally today trimmed losses, Reuters reported. Stocks advanced today on news that European leaders had agreed to stabilize Europe’s banks.

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The Dow Jones industrial average increased 277.83 points, or 2.2 percent, to end the day at 12,880.09. That made June the Dow’s best month so far this year, MarketWatch reported.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index had its best day in 2012, according to MarketWatch, gaining 33.12 points, or 2.5 percent, to close at 1,362.16. And the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 85.56 points, or 3 percent, to 2,935.05.

“It’s a relief rally,” Ann Miletti, fund manager for Wells Fargo Advantage Funds in Menomonee Falls, Wisc., told Bloomberg News. “The [EU Summit] agreement at least brings some clarity and stabilization in the short term. More positive news out of Europe is all you need in a market that’s been depressed given all the uncertainty out there.”

Yet all three indexes still ended down for the second quarter of the year, MarketWatch reported. For the quarter, the Dow is down 2.5 percent, the S&P 500 is down 3.3 percent and the Nasdaq is down 5.1 percent.

"You have more fireworks coming next week when the ECB meets on the fifth because I have to believe they are going to cut their interest rates by at least a half to stimulate growth," Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vt., told Reuters.

Global stocks also surged today, with the Stoxx 600 increasing the most since November and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index jumping 3.5 percent, its biggest increase since October, Bloomberg News reported. The Stoxx 600 ended the quarter 4.6 percent lower and the MSCI decreased 9.9 percent.

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