US stocks : Dow up 0.38 pct

Greece's international lenders failed again to reach a deal to release emergency aid to the debt-saddled country. Lenders will try again next Monday, but Germany signaled that significant divisions remain.

A truce between Israel and Hamas gave stocks some support around midday after Egypt announced a ceasefire would come into effect later in the day.

Fears that the fiscal cliff discussions in Washington could be drawn out or yield no resolution have been at the forefront of investors' minds in recent weeks. Combined with concerns about the euro zone's continued debt problems, the worries had driven a sell-off that has taken more than 5 percent off the S&P 500 since Election Day in early November.

Positive comments from U.S. politicians that they will work to find common ground have helped the S&P 500 recoup some of that loss in recent sessions.

The Dow Jones industrial average. DJI gained 48.38 points, or 0.38 percent, to end at 12,836.89. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX added 3.22 points, or 0.23 percent, to finish at 1,391.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC rose 9.87 points, or 0.34 percent, to close at 2,926.55.

St Jude Medical (STJ.N) shares tumbled 12.2 percent to $31.37 after an inspection report from health regulators raised new safety concerns about one of the company's leads that are used with implantable defibrillators, analysts said.

A modest gain in International Business Machines (IBM.N) helped the Dow outperform the other indexes. IBM rose 0.6 percent to $190.29.

Dow component Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) climbed

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