Wall Street trims losses on Greece money

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks trimmed earlier losses to trade modestly lower by mid-afternoon trade on Wednesday after news that Greece will get 5.2 billion euros in aid.

Stocks had tumbled more than 1 percent earlier in the session, with the S&P 500 hitting a two-month low over concerns about political uncertainty in Greece and Spain's weak banks.

But the indexes recovered a lot of lost ground after news that the board of the European Financial Stability Facility agreed to make a payment of 5.2 billion euros in emergency aid to Greece, overcoming opposition from some euro-zone member states, according to a senior euro-zone official.

The S&P financial sector index <.GSPF>, which had lost more than 1 percent earlier, recovered to trade down 0.6 percent.

"It's a very difficult market to trade in. I'm advising my clients to just hedge out all the way into July because we are going to see some heightened volatility like today for awhile," said Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 58.47 points, or 0.45 percent, at 12,874.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 5.02 points, or 0.37 percent, at 1,358.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 4.73 points, or 0.16 percent, at 2,941.54.

The recent turmoil in Europe has moved to the forefront of investor focus and has helped drive Wall Street's slide, with the benchmark S&P 500 index down five of the last six sessions as earnings season winds down and few domestic economic indicators are released.

The yield on the 10-year Spanish bond climbed over 6 percent, seen as a troublesome level among investors, after Spain came up with a plan to demand banks set aside another 35 billion euros ($45 billion) against loans to the ailing building sector. Huge bank losses have raised fears that the country may need an international bailout.

U.S.-listed shares of Banco Santander SA trimmed earlier losses, but were still down 5.2 percent at $6.04. The FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> ended at its lowest level in four months. <.EU>

Walt Disney Co reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations late Tuesday on strong theme park attendance and higher cable network advertising revenue. Shares of Disney, a Dow component, rose 1.9 percent to $45.12, after earlier hitting a lifetime high at $45.80. [ID:nL1E8G8DZY] The success of its superhero movie, "The Avengers," also helped lift Disney's stock. [ID:nL4E8G98NC]

Macy's Inc earnings rose more than expected, but the stock fell 3.8 percent to $38 on disappointment that the department-store chain didn't change its outlook.

With 441 of the S&P 500 companies reporting results through Wednesday morning, 66.7 percent exceeded estimates, according to Thomson Reuters data. At the start of earnings season, more than 80 percent had beaten estimates.

(Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Jan Paschal)

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