Stocks Recover to End Mostly Up

U.S. stocks recovered to end mostly higher on Wednesday after a near session-long retreat as investors looked for hopeful signals from Europe in dealing with a possible Greek departure from the euro. Coming back from a 191-point deficit, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 12,496.15, down 6.66 points, or 0.05%. The S&P 500 Index gained 2.23 points, or 0.17%, to 1,318.86. The Nasdaq Composite rose 11.04 points, or 0.39%, to 2,850.12.

Google Inc’s Android mobile platform has not infringed Oracle Corp’s patents, a California jury decided in a high-stakes trial fought by the two Silicon Valley giants over smartphone technology.

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) on Wednesday reported a fiscal second quarter profit of $1.6 billion, or 80 cents a share, compared with a profit of $2.3 billion, or $1.05 a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $30.7 billion, down from $31.6 billion.  Hewlett Packard Co also outlined a plan to lay off roughly 27,000 employees or about 8 percent of its workforce, generating annual savings of $3 billion to $3.5 billion as it exits fiscal 2014.

Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE:P) on Wednesday reported a fiscal first-quarter loss of $20.2 million, or 12 cents a share, on revenue of $80.8 million, compared with a loss of $9.1 million, or 61 cents a share, on $51 million in revenue in the same period a year ago.

Crude-oil futures settled below $90 a barrel on Wednesday as growing speculation for a Greek euro exit fueled expectations for weaker oil demand and lifted the dollar. Crude for July delivery (NMN:CLN2) fell $1.95, or 2.1%, to settle at $89.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after tapping a low of $89.28.