SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks rose Tuesday, helped by reports signaling the Greek government was close to agreeing on budget measures that would open the path to more international rescue money and testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The Fed chief reiterated his worries about the U.S. economy, signaling last week's jobs report had not swayed the central bank from its commitment to keeping rates ultralow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33.07 points, or 0.3%, to 12,878.20, its highest close since May 2008. The S&P 500 gained 2.72 points, or 0.2%, to 1,347.05. The Nasdaq Composite added 2.09 points, or 0.1%, to 2,904.08.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Yahoo Inc. announced Tuesday afternoon that Chairman Roy Bostock and three other directors have volunteered not to stand for re-election to the company's board. In a statement, Yahoo said Bostock, Vyomesh Joshi, Arthur Kern and Gary Wilson will not run for re-election. In a letter to shareholders, Bostock said two new independent directors -- Alfred Amoroso and Maynard Webb, Jr. -- have been elected to the board, which is continuing its search for more independent board members. Amoroso is the former CEO of Rovi Corp. and Webb is the former CEO of LiveOps.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures ended higher Tuesday, propelled by a lower dollar and hopes Greece is closer to a deal to pave the way for more financial aid. Oil for March delivery advanced $1.50, or 1.6%, to end at $98.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, overcoming earlier weakness and settling at its best in a week.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. consumers increased their debt in December by a seasonally adjusted $19.3 billion, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday. The increase is just below November's $20.4 billion pace which was the biggest gain in a decade. Monthly debt rose by a 9.4% pace in December, after a 9.9% pace in the prior month. The increase in consumer credit in December was much larger than expected by Wall Street economists. All types of credit gained in the month. The non-revolving category of debt, such as auto loans, personal loans, and student loans, jumped $16.6 billion, or 11.8%, in December. This is the largest amount since November 2001. Credit-card debt increased by $2.8 billion, or 4.1%, in the month. For the year, consumer credit rose 3.7%, the largest increase since 2007.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Federal Reserve's report on consumer credit for December is due for release at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. Economists are expecting credit to expand by about $7.0 billion, after credit surged $20.4 billion in November, the biggest gain in a decade.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Party leaders in Greece have postponed a meeting to discuss new austerity measures until Wednesday, according to media reports Tuesday. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is reportedly meeting with senior debt inspectors representing European creditor nations and the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday instead of Greek party leaders.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures ended 1.4% higher Tuesday, buoyed by a lower dollar on news Greece is closer to reaching an agreement that would pave the way for more financial aid. Gold for April delivery advanced $23.50, or 1.4%, to $1,748.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That snapped a two-day losing streak for the metal and took it to its highest since Thursday.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Treasury Department sold $32 billion in 3-year notes on Tuesday at a yield of 0.347%, not far above the record low of 0.334% in September. Bidders offered to buy 3.3 times the amount of debt sold, compared to an average of 3.52 times at the last four monthly sales of 3-year notes, according to CRT Capital Group. Indirect bidders, a group which includes foreign central banks, bought 27.7%, from an average of 38.5% of recent sales. Direct bidders, a group which includes domestic money managers, purchased another 8.5%, compared to 10% on average. After the auction, the broader bond market edged a little further into the red. Yields on 10-year notes [10_year], which move inversely to prices, rose 7 basis points to 1.98%.

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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down a California ban on same-sex marriage, the Los Angeles Times reports. The ruling, by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, likely sets the stage for a final showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling found that Proposition 8, passed by voters in 2008, is in violation of the U.S. Constitution, the newspaper noted. Same-sex marriage was legal in California for about six months following a ruling by the state's Supreme Court, also in 2008.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday lowered for the third consecutive time its estimates on average household expenses with heating fuels. Heating oil expenses are now seen 1% higher this winter compared to last winter, and expenses for natural gas and propane are forecast to decline by 11% and 5%, respectively, the DOE's Energy Information Administration said in its monthly short-term energy outlook. Electricity expenditures are expected to be 4% lower than last winter's. During peak driving season, April through September, retail gasoline prices are seen about 7 cents per gallon higher than the annual average, and EIA price data analysis shows an about one-in-four chance gasoline prices would exceed $4 a gallon on average in June. New York-traded oil is seen averaging $100 a barrel this year, almost $6 higher than the average 2011 price, the EIA said.

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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The just-announced deal between Verizon Communications Inc. and Coinstar's Redbox could have negative consequences for Redbox, in the view of media analyst Richard Greenfield of BTIG Research. In his latest blog entry, Greenfield commented: "The problem with the Verizon/Redbox JV is that once you have a great streaming product, consumers are simply not going to want discs anymore." Consumers are increasingly becoming accustomed to streaming, Greenfield explained, thanks to Time Warner Inc.'s HBOGo service and Netflix Inc.'s very popular streaming offering, among others. "We have a hard time understanding how the Verizon service will be better than simply subscribing to both Netflix streaming and DVD offerings or subscribing to Netflix streaming and using Redbox kiosks for the occasional new release," the analyst wrote. Redbox operates thousands of kiosks across the U.S., offering DVDs for rent at $1.

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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- When Walt Disney Co. reports its fiscal first-quarter earnings following the market's close on Tuesday, investors should focus on fees paid by cable operators to the company's ESPN and other cable channels, theme park margins, and capital returns to shareholders, Morgan Stanley's Benjamin Swinburne told clients. Swinburne wrote that he expects 8% growth in revenue from cable fees in fiscal 2012, and an improvement to as much as 10% in 2013, due to a just-signed extension with Comcast Corp. . The analyst notes that the theme parks will easily show margin improvement compared to the impact of last year's nuclear incident at its Japan parks and resorts. Swinburne also wrote that he expects to see $6 billion returned to shareholders during the fiscal year.

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BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- A senior official for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a leading breast-cancer charity, has resigned over a dispute concerning the foundation's decision to stop providing grants for breast-screenings to Planned Parenthood, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. The AP said that foundation's vice president for public policy, Karen Handel, stepped down after informing Komen officials she had supported the decision. News that the Komen foundation was refusing to fund Planned Parenthood, which offers healthcare services ranging from cancer screenings to abortions, ignited a firestorm of controversy last week, amid charges the charity was caving into anti-abortionist activists. According to the AP, prior to joining the Komen group, Handel ran for governor of Georgia on an anti-abortion platform and was a frequent critic of Planned Parenthood. The Komen foundation has since reversed its decision.

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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Richard Holwell, the federal judge in the Southern District of New York who presided over the insider trading trial of Raj Rajaratnam, former head of Galleon, is stepping down from the bench to open his own law firm. Described as a "boutique litigation firm," Holwell will be joined by Michael Shuster and Daniel Goldberg, prominent New York trial lawyers with whom he had worked at White and Case before he was elevated to the judiciary in 2003. "Serving as a federal judge was the honor of a lifetime," Holwell said in announcing the new venture. "But it's time for me to stretch my legs and return to my roots as an advocate."

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold and oil futures rebounded Tuesday as optimism that Greece is near a final agreement for a second rescue package lifted U.S. stocks and sent the dollar index significantly lower. Gold for April delivery tacked on $13.90, or 0.8%, at $1,738.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as low as $1,712.60 earlier. March crude oil traded at $98.80 a barrel on Nymex, up $1.88, or 1.9%, following an earlier decline to as low as $95.84. The U.S. dollar index fell to 78.558, from 79.064 late Monday.

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BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Several European Union and Arab nations are pulling their ambassadors from Syria as international pressure mounts on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down amid escalating violence in his nation, CNN reported on Tuesday. Members of the Gulf Cooperation Council said they were pulling their respective ambassadors, which include those from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait, from Syria. Spain, France and Italy have said they will do the same. On Monday, the U.K. pulled its ambassador as the U.S. closed its embassy in Damascus and recalled all its remaining diplomatic personnel. In related news, Russia's foreign minister reportedly met with Al-Assad on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing violence. Last week, Russia and China blocked a United Nations Security Council resolution that called on Al-Assad to allow the formation of a more unified government.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Equities in Brazil edged lower Tuesday, with the market's benchmark index looking set to mark their first decline in six sessions. Traders remained focused on developments in Greece as officials there continued their struggle to reach an agreement on austerity measures. Brazil's Ibovespa fell 153 points, or 0.2%, to 65,071. The index has gained 3.9% over the past five trading sessions. Among the heavyweights, shares of miner Vale fell 1.3% while Petrobras edged up by 0.1%. In Mexico, trading resumed after Monday's holiday, with the IPC down 0.3% at 37,991. Argentina's Merval lost 1% to 2,779. The Chile IPSA was down 0.5% at 4,357.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Harman International Industries Inc. rose nearly 8% at the open Tuesday, making the company the top percentage gainer in the S&P 500 index. The company, whose products include automotive entertainment systems and GPS, reported before the opening bell a fiscal second-quarter profit of $59 million, or 82 cents a share, up from $53 million, or 74 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue for the quarter rose 18% to $1.13 billion, driven by sales gains overseas, especially in China. Analysts polled by FactSet Research had expected the Stamford, Conn.-based company to earn 78 cents a share on $1.07 billion in revenue. Harman shares were last trading 5.4% higher at $46.94. They are down 4% over the past 12 months.

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BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Russia's leading natural gas supplier Gazprom has admitted it's having trouble keeping up with European demand, but denies that it has broken any export contracts. According to Dow Jones Newswires, Gazprom's deputy chief executive officer, Alexander Medvedev, said during an interview on Russian TV Monday that Gazprom's supplies to Europe were down 15% last week, but added the company is still working in accordance with the contracts. Medvedev attributed the supply crunch to abnormally frigid temperatures in the region, which pushed up European demand over 20% last week. Dow Jones added that decreased gas flow has been reported in Romania, Germany and Italy, but that levels appear to be back to normal in other European nations.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Yum Brands were among the biggest S&P 500 gainers Tuesday morning, rising 3% to $65.23. Yum, which owns Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, reported a fourth-quarter profit and sales that came in just ahead of what analysts had forecast. Yum is seeing strong demand for its food chains in China, which is helping to counter sluggish U.S. growth. Yum shares are up 32% over the last 12 months.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The number of job openings rose to 3.38 million in December from 3.12 million in November, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Although the number of job openings remained below the 4.4 million openings when the recession began in December 2007, the number of job openings has increased 39% since the end of the recession in June 2009, the government said. Gains were led by professional and business services, while the biggest drop came from education and health services. The number of hires fell to 4.05 million from 4.13 million, while separations fell to 3.91 million from 3.99 million.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Emerson Electric shares fell 4% to $51.30 Tuesday morning after the maker of factory automation equipment pared its sales and profit outlook for fiscal 2012. Emerson's business has been undercut by the Thailand floods, customers not growing their inventories and weak residential construction growth in the U.S. and China. Emerson cut its sales growth target to 2% to 4%, down from 4% to 6% growth. The company projected a profit of between $3.45 and $3.60 a share this year against the $3.51 a share analysts polled by FactSet are forecasting. Emerson shares are down 16% over the last 12 months.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Canadian equities fell Tuesday, with the diversified metals and mining sector posting the largest decline as prices for most metals weakened. The S&P/TSX Composite Index shed 62.31 points, or 0.5%, to 12,497.54, with the S&P/TSX Capped Diversified Metals & Mining Index falling 1.5%. Shares of Teck Resources Ltd. fell 2.1%. The S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index also fell by 1.2%, with shares of Suncor Energy Inc. losing 1.9% as oil futures prices headed for their second-straight session of declines. In currencies action, the U.S. dollar bought 99.75 Canadian cents, up 0.2% from Monday.

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BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Italy is reporting shortages in its Russian natural gas supply as unusually frigid temperature continue to grip Europe, putting a strain on supplies, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. The newspaper said that extremely cold weather has forced Russia's natural gas supplier, Gazprom, to divert some supplies intended for European markets back to Russia for domestic use.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures traded lower Tuesday, after worse-than-expected industrial data for Germany and as investors eyed Greece and a potential agreement with its debt holders. Some support came from a lower dollar and concerns around geopolitical tensions in Iran and Nigeria, two of the world's top oil producers. Crude for March delivery declined 14 cents, or 0.1%, to $96.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Coinstar Inc. jumped more than 16% to $58.90 on Tuesday morning after the company reported better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter and announced plans to buy the DVD-kiosk business from NCR Corp. -- removing a key competitor for Coinstar's Redbox service. The deal came after Coinstar announced a partnership with Verizon for a new digital streaming service. "Coinstar continues to garner market share in the DVD rental market, and the process will accelerate with pending acquisition of the NCR kiosk business," wrote Paul Coster of J.P. Morgan in a note to clients Tuesday, in which he boosted his price target on the stock to $62 from $50.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Andarko Petroleum Corp. rose 2% on Tuesday after the oil and gas producer's better-than-expected profit, while energy stocks cooled off. BP PLC dropped 1.8% despite a 14% hike in its quarterly dividend. Overall, energy stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 fell 0.7%.

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FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Greek government officials were composing a document to present to party leaders Tuesday detailing a second bailout worth 130 billion euros ($170 billion), Dow Jones Newswires reported, citing an unnamed Greek government official. Leaders of the three political parties that back Prime Minister Lucas Papademos's interim unity government are set to meet with the premier in an effort to finalize details of the program after facing sharp pressure from its European partners to accept calls for further austerity measures. Hopes for an imminent deal were credited with lifting the euro , which traded at $1.3189 versus the dollar, up 0.5% from Monday.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Perrigo Co. jumped 3.9% on Tuesday as one of the top gaining stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 . The over-the-counter pharmaceutical manufacturer's second-quarter sales rose to $838.2 million, from $718 million, while its adjusted earnings rose to $1.20 a share from $1.05 a share. Wall Street analysts expected Perrigo to earn $1.15 a share on sales of $810.3 million, according to a survey by FactSet Research. Looking ahead, Perrigo expects 2012 earnings of $4.70 to $4.80 a share, compared to the analyst target of $4.73.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Technology stocks were mostly lower Tuesday, even as shares of NCR Corp. jumped more than 8% a day after the company reported better-than-expected results. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged down by 0.4% to 2,892. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was also down fractionally in early trading. Leading the sector decline were shares of Cisco Systems and Intel Corp. .

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