US STOCKS-Wall Street gains as Europe girds for turmoil

* Pre-Greek vote preps by central banks reassure
* Volatility seen persisting ahead of Greek election
* Read on NY manufacturing comes in weaker than expected
* Indexes up: Dow 0.5 pct, S&P 0.6 pct, Nasdaq 0.6 pct

By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, June 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday on
optimism major world central banks will take coordinated action
if the closely watched election in Greece this weekend results
in market turmoil.
The news offset the latest round of weak U.S. economic data,
which pointed to sluggish growth domestically.
Officials of the Group of 20 leading industrialized nations
told Reuters that central banks of major economies would take
steps to stabilize markets and prevent a credit squeeze, if
necessary.
That spurred sharp gains late in Thursday's session, erasing
the S&P's decline for the week. The benchmark index is now up
0.9 percent on the week, even as uncertainties persist over the
euro zone.
Material and energy shares were among the
biggest gainers of the day, with the two closely tied to
economic growth prospects. Cabot Oil & Gas rose 2.1
percent to $35.78 and Alcoa Inc was up 1.4 percent at
$8.77.
"The kind of action being described in Europe would be a
positive step, although I view it as only one of ten things that
needs to be done to stabilize the situation," said David Carter,
chief investment officer at Lenox Wealth Advisors in New York.

Investors fear the Sunday elections in Greece may set the
nation on a path to an exit from the euro zone. That
possibility, along with questions about the effectiveness of a
bank bailout plan in Spain, has spurred volatility in a thinly
traded week.
"Watching the market is like watching a NASCAR race, with us
ripping down one direction one minute and then up the other
direction the next, making no progress at the end of the day,"
Carter said.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 66.11 points,
or 0.52 percent, at 12,718.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
was up 7.28 points, or 0.55 percent, at 1,336.38. The
Nasdaq Composite Index was up 15.51 points, or 0.55
percent, at 2,851.84.
A gauge of manufacturing in New York state fell sharply in
June, though it still showed growth, while a read on consumer
sentiment was also below consensus forecasts.

"What's shocking is how disappointing the data is still,"
said Lawrence Glazer, managing partner at Mayflower Advisors in
Boston. "It reflects the general malaise on Main Street right
now. Consumers and investors have been hit with a wave of
uncertainty."
Recent economic indicators, including Thursday's unexpected
rise in jobless claims, have pointed to sluggish growth in the
U.S. economy. However, U.S. equities have largely tracked
European developments in recent months, and shrugged off weak
domestic data on occasion.
Some investors think the lackluster U.S. data increases the
chances that the Federal Reserve will signal more easy money to
counter slowing growth when it releases its policy statement
next Wednesday at the close of a two-day meeting.
The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday Microsoft
Corp would buy business software company Yammer Inc for
$1.2 billion, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Microsoft rose 2 percent to $29.92.
Diamond Foods Inc late Thursday said it had
received a letter from Nasdaq saying it had missed the deadline
for filing its already-delayed quarterly report, a fact which
could lead to the company's delisting from the stock exchange.
The stock dropped 2.9 percent to $18.10.