Wall St. opens higher on Greek hopes

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks were higher for the second straight session on Tuesday on continued expectations that Greece is near a deal that will prevent it from defaulting on loans, and data pointing to a rebound in business investment plans.

Global markets were higher, with European shares climbing to a three-week high, after Athens proposed new reforms on Monday, which were cautiously welcomed by euro zone finance ministers.

"It now appears that we will have a short-term solution to the problem," said Andreas Clenow, hedge fund trader and principal at ACIES Asset Management.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose 0.4 percent last month, offering a tentative sign of stabilization in the manufacturing sector after activity weakened early this year.

Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy could be ready for a first interest rate hike in September and another one in December. Powell said the U.S. economy would likely strengthen in the second half of the year.

At 9:49 a.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average was up 37.23 points, or 0.21 percent, at 18,157.01, the S&P 500 was up 3.1 points, or 0.15 percent, at 2,125.95 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 2.02 points, or 0.04 percent, at 5,155.99.

Six of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with the telecommunications index leading the gains with a 1.65 percent rise.

Darden Restaurants' shares rose 3.6 percent to $71.9 after the Olive Garden owner said it intends to separate a portion of its real estate assets into a real estate investment trust, proceeds of which will be used to pay down debt.

Green Dot jumped 32.8 percent to $20.31 after three brokerages raised their price targets on the stock after the company said it renewed agreement with Wal-Mart Stores as issuing bank for MoneyCard prepaid reloadable cards.

Momo was up 12.1 percent at $17.59 after the Chinese social media company received a "going private" proposal from its CEO.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,466 to 1,243. On the Nasdaq, 1,204 issues rose and 1,079 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 38 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 104 highs and nine lows.

(Editing by Don Sebastian)