Stocks saw a modest advance last Friday as investors remained cautious heading into the long, President's Day weekend, when their hopes were set for the approval of Greece's $130 billion bailout plan. Equity markets have tended to react positively on progress helping Greece avoid a chaotic bailout. But past agreements have broken down at the last minute, resulting in market disappointment. Friday's stock uptick extended the prior day's rally and pushed the benchmark Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index up more than 23% from its October low. It isn't unusual for the stock market to pause toward the end of the earnings season as the market digests the results. However, the S&P 500 Index rose 8.2% this year and is at a nine-month high, just 10 points short of hitting its highest level since 2008. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2% to close at 12,949.64. The S&P gained 1.4% to finish at 1,361.21, while the Nasdaq advanced 1.7% to end at 2,951.78.

After six-consecutive weeks of positive gains, the Government Development Bank's Puerto Rico Stock Index (PRSI) had its first weekly setback of the year last week when three of its five components fell into negative territory. For the week, the PRSI lost 402.35, or 23.11%, to close at 1,338.37—its lowest level of the year. Leading the list of gainers last week was Triple-S Management Corp., which surged 70¢, or 3.01%, to close at $23.91. It was followed by Oriental Financial Group, which rose 2¢, or 0.16%, to close at $11.87. Topping the list of nongainers last week was First BanCorp, which erased $1.02, or 20.68%, to close at $3.91. It was followed by Doral Financial Corp., which skidded 5¢, or 3.18%, to close at $1.52. Popular Inc. shed 1¢, or 0.59%, to close at $1.67.