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From Briefing.com: Global markets opened July with a bang amid reports that Greece is now ready to accept all creditor demands, however German Chancellor Angela Merkel says negotiations will not resume before Sunday referendum.

Nevertheless, US equities took note of this development, and the optimism of a deal sent major indices higher in the first trading session of July. Although there was not much news aside from the Greece headline, the S&P 500 gained 0.7% on the day while the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.8%

The S&P Information Technology Sector, which rose 0.6% on the day, performed relatively in-line with the broader market.

It's worth noting that tomorrow is the last trading session of the shortened holiday week. It should be little surprise then that the news wire was rather light today, and the same can be expected for tomorrow as many market participants take off early on vacation.

Notable news items from sector components included the following:
Paychex (PAYX 47.31, +0.43, +0.92%): Reported Q4 earnings of $0.44 per share on revenues that rose 8.3% year/year to $692.2 million. Additionally, total service revenue increased 8% to $681.4 million for the fourth quarter. PAYX also forecasted FY16 net income to be within the range of +8-9%, with total service revenues of +7-8%.

Harris Corp (HRS 77.38, +0.47, +0.6%): Announced that, effective the beginning of fiscal 2016, July 4, the company will be organizing its business segments following the recent acquisition of Exelis.

Elsewhere in the technology space:

WPCS Intl (WPCS 3.02, +1.48, +96%): Announced it was awarded $3.6 million in new contracts during the first two months of fiscal year 2016.

Jack Henry (JKHY 65.68, +0.98, +1.5%): Acquired Bayside Business Solutions, a provider of portfolio management systems for commercial lenders. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Analyst Action:

GrubHub (GRUB 31.67, -2.40, -7%): Initiated with a Buy at Guggenheim

Axcelis Tech (ACLS 3.03, +0.07, +2.4%): Initiated with a Buy at The Benchmark Company; price target $4.50

Zillow (Z 88.15, +1.41, +1.6%): Initiated with a Buy at Guggenheim

Splunk (SPLK 69.47, -0.15, -0.2%): Initiated with an Outperform at Raymond James; price target $80

Check Point Software (CHKP 80.21, +0.66, +0.8%): Initiated with a Market Perform at JMP Securities

Remark Media (MARK 4.16, +0.11, +2.7%): Initiated with a Buy at Maxim Group; price target $11

EPAM Systems (EPAM 73.82, +2.59, +3.6%): Initiated with an Overweight at JP Morgan; price target $87

NQ Mobile (NQ 5.16, -0.12, -2.3%): Price target raised to $10 from $8.50 at Rosenblatt; Buy

Facebook (FB 86.91, +1.15, +1.3%): Price target raised to $100 from $92 at Cantor Fitzgerald; Buy

Intel (INTC 30.18, -0.24, -0.8%): Price target lowered to $38 from $40 at FBR Capital; Outperform

Lam Research (LRCX 82.27, +0.92, +1.1%): Price target raised to $98 from $93 at Cowen; Outperform

Cypress Semi (CY 11.68, -0.08, -0.7%): Resumed with an Overweight at Barclays; price target $15

5:55 pm Hewlett-Packard confirms filing the Form 10 registration statement in regards to its planned split; separation remains on track for November (HPQ) :

4:10 pm : The major averages spent the Wednesday session in a slow retreat from their opening highs, but they were able to keep more than half of their opening gains. The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% while the Nasdaq Composite (+0.5%) underperformed.

Equities surged out of the gate amid reports from Europe indicating Greece is now ready to accept all conditions in order to secure a bailout. The report sparked a rush to risk assets, but the Greek offer was met with a cool reception from Eurozone leaders. Most notably, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated that talks will not resume until after Sunday's referendum, adding that "a compromise at any price" is not worthwhile. Similarly, Eurogroup Chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said he does not see the need for a resumption of talks ahead of Sunday's referendum.

Despite charging at the start, stocks began inching away from their highs about 30 minutes into the session after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reiterated his call for a 'no' vote during Sunday's referendum. A small pullback ensued as Mr. Tsipras' comments cast doubt on earlier speculation that the referendum could be cancelled altogether.

Nine sectors were able to end the day with gains while energy (-1.3%) struggled amid daylong weakness in crude oil that sent the energy component to levels not seen since late May. WTI crude settled lower by 4.2% at $56.94/bbl with greenback strength contributing to the move as the Dollar Index (96.25, +0.76) rose 0.8%.

Today's plunge in crude oil failed to boost airlines as the industry group was hit with broad-based selling interest after the Department of Justice confirmed a probe into potential collusion in the industry. Delta Air Lines (DAL 40.27, -0.81) and JetBlue (JBLU 20.04, -0.71) lost 2.0% and 3.4%, respectively, while the Dow Jones Transportation Average eked out a slim gain of 0.2% thanks to gains among shipping and railroad names.

Elsewhere among cyclical sectors, consumer discretionary (+1.0%) and financials (+1.3%) outperformed throughout the session. The financial sector held the lead into the close with Chubb (CB 119.99, +24.85) soaring 26.1% after agreeing to be acquired by ACE Limited (ACE 102.49, +0.81) for roughly $124.13/share in cash and stock. The acquisition boosted other insurers with Dow component Travelers (TRV 99.30, +2.64) jumping 2.7%.

Also of note, the technology sector (+0.6%) was among the early leaders, but the top-weighted group slipped behind the broader market during afternoon action. The retreat from early highs was paced by chipmakers with the PHLX Semiconductor Index narrowing its gain to 0.2% after being up 1.5% at the start.

Treasuries ended the day not far above their lows with the 10-yr yield climbing six basis points to 2.42%.

Today's participation was ahead of average as more than 840 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data included ADP Employment, ISM Index, Construction Spending, and MBA Mortgage Index:

The ADP National Employment Report revealed that employment in the nonfarm private business sector rose by 237K in June, which was above the increase of 200K expected by the Briefing.com consensus
The May reading was revised up to 203,000 from 201,000
The ISM Manufacturing Index increased to 53.5 in June from 52.8 in May while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase to 53.2
A small acceleration in new orders growth (56.0 from 55.8) was not enough to keep the Production Activities index from falling to 54.0 in June from 54.5 in May
Construction spending increased 0.8% in May after a downwardly revised 2.1% (from 2.2%) increase in April while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 0.3%
Typically, construction spending naturally pulls back after an outsized 2.0% monthly gain. Not only did construction spending remain on a positive track, but it easily topped what we considered to be inflated expectations.
The weekly MBA Mortgage Index fell 4.7% to follow last week's 1.6% increase

Tomorrow, weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 273K) and June Nonfarm Payrolls (consensus 230K) will both be reported at 8:30 ET while the Factory Orders report for May (consensus -0.5%) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.

Nasdaq Composite +5.9% YTD
Russell 2000 +4.4% YTD
S&P 500 +0.9% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.4% YTD

DJ30 +138.40 NASDAQ +26.26 SP500 +14.32 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1610/1.68 bln/1332 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1926/840.9 mln/1191

3:40 pm :

WTI crude oil futures sold off today, losing $2.50/barrel to $56.94/barrel.
Aug natural gas also fell to, declining $0.05 to $2.78/MMBtu.
Heating oil and RBOB futures declined as well today.
Metals were mixed today with copper rising $0.02 to $2.63/lb, Aug gold falling $2.60 to $1169.20/oz and Sept silver losing $0.05 to $15.57/oz
Following a 10% rally yesterday, Sept corn futures closed today $0.02 higher to $4.24/bushel

11:58 am Cree (-2%) extends last week's break down to a near three year low (CREE) :

Last week the co guided Q4 and FY16 sales below consensus, citing pricing pressure; co also announced restructuring and a $500 mln stock buyback.
CREE is approaching long term support near the $25 level
LED equipment stocks Veeco (VECO) and Aixtron (AIXG) have also continued to sell off.
Lighting leader Acuity Brands (AYI) made a new all time high this morning following record Q3 results.

11:47 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New lows (203) outpacing new highs (120) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ABCW, ACFC, ACGL, ACHC, ADPT, AF, AFG, AFMD, AFSI, AGII, AHL, AHS, ALDR, ALJ, ALR, ATTO, AWH, AYI, BIO, BNCN, BSET, BTO, CACC, CB, CENT, CENTA, CF, CFI, CMCSA, CMCSK, COKE, CTRV, DBVT, DCM, DMRC, DPZ, DST, DXCM, DY, EBF, ELECU, ELNK, EVI, FFIN, FL, FNB, GERN, GHC, GIG, GIL, GRBK, HALO, HCKT, HRTG, HSII, HSP, HTBI, HZNP, IBKR, IBP, ILMN, IMPV, IRMD, JOF, JRVR, LION, LJPC, LMAT, LPNT, MHLD, MIG, MORN, MRH, MTD, MTG, MTN, NGHC, NPK, NVEC, OCFC, OPB, ORIT, PAHC, PGR, PNFP, POST, PZZA, QABA, RDUS, RLH, RPTP, RUTH, SCLN, SFBS, SIVB, SRNE, STL, STRN, STS, SUBK, SWK, SYBT, TBNK, THG, TILE, TMK, TPX, TREE, TTPH, TWX, UBSI, UHS, USPH, VAC, VLY, VRTU, WRB, WSTG, WTFC, XNCR

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AA, ACAS, ACTG, ACV, AGNC, ALTV, AMID, AMTG, ANR, APIC, APOL, ARP, ATLS, ATW, BCX, BDN, BGR, BKH, BMR, BPK, BSI, BTU, CAMT, CBK, CECO, CEL, CHK, CIM, CLD, CNS, CNX, COP, CPPL, CRDS, CREE, CRK, CSAL, CSG, CVE, CVX, CXE, CYS, DDD, DDR, DELT, DMLP, DNN, DNR, DO, DPG, DPM, DRWI, DTLK, DX, EARN, ECT, EIA, ELTK, ENPH, EOX, EVEP, FHCO, FPL, FSC, FSFR, FXEN, GAI, GAS, GGB, GLF, GLRE, GLRI, GMCR, GMT, GOV, GRMN, GTY, HELI, HERO, HGT, HLX, HOV, HPJ, HR, HRZN, HTS, HTZ, I, IDE, IFT, IHD, IO, IRET, IRM, IRR, IVR, JMI, JOY, KEM, KODK, KYE, KYN, LECO, LINE, LPT, LSCC, MAV, MBSD, MDU, MEIL, MFA, MHE, MIND, MITT, MOLG, MTGE, MUJ, MUR, MVO, NETE, NIQ, NJV, NLY, NMA, NOR, NRG, NRP, NTIC, NXZ, NYLD, OFC, OFG, OHI, OII, OIS, ORIG, OUT, PAAS, PACD, PBI, PERI, PGH, PICO, PLG, PLPC, PLTM, PRTY, PSCF, QEP, RAIL, RGSE, RNWK, ROYL, RWT, SDPI, SE, SFM, SGI, SKBI, SKT, SLTC, SMRT, SNDK, SNH, SPNC, SRET, SRV, STAG, STR, STWD, STX, SVLC, SYNL, TAC, TAXI, TCK, TDC, THM, TRP, TRUE, TTHI, TUES, TUTT, UBA, UE, VCLT, VICL, VII, VJET, VKTX, VMEM, VPCO, WGBS, WLB, WMT, WRES, XCO, XENE, XOM, XONE, YLCO, YRCW, ZINC

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: none

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: AMJ, BND, EGPT, KOL, XME