* Visa, MasterCard hit 52-week highs
* Stocks up for third straight day on Greek hopes
* BofA gains after mortgage bond settlement
* Dow up 0.6 pct, S&P up 0.8 pct, Nasdaq up 0.4 pct * For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to close)
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK, June 29 (Reuters) - Wall Street closed its best three-day run in the past three months on Wednesday after the Greek parliament approved austerity measures to avoid defaulting on its debt.
Optimism about the plan's approval has helped the stock market recoup some of its losses of the last two months. The CBOE Volatility Index <.VIX>, Wall Street's "fear gauge," fell 9.9 percent to 17.27, its third straight decline.
Greek lawmakers approved a five-year package of spending cuts, tax increases and state asset sales by a comfortable margin of 155 votes to 138 in a roll-call vote, handing a significant victory to embattled Prime Minister George Papandreou. For details, see [ID:nL6E7HT0PS]
"The whole scary month of June has been healed with these nice three days we've had," said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial in New York. "That is a pretty good indication that you've got a floor under the market now."
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 72.73 points, or 0.60 percent, to 12,261.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 10.74 points, or 0.83 percent, to 1,307.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 11.18 points, or 0.41 percent, to 2,740.49.
Kaufman said the S&P 500's retaking of its April low at around 1,295 was a positive sign, but he noted that the index faced resistance at its 50-day moving average at 1,316.
Financials ranked among the day's best performers. Bank of
America Corp
Visa
But with the S&P 500 up over 2 percent this week, there were signs of weakness in recent gainers such as technology. The Philadelphia semiconductor index <.SOX> dipped 0.1 percent.
The market's breadth, or the difference between rising stocks and falling ones, was narrow on the technology heavy Nasdaq as only slightly more stocks rose then fell.
"The rally really hasn't had a lot of momentum -- the volume was light yesterday and today leading into a holiday weekend," said Paul Brigandi, a portfolio manager at Direxion Funds in New York.
Analysts said fund managers were likely engaging in "window dressing" at the end of the quarter. The process involves adding to winners by buying those names and selling losers to make portfolios look better. The activity can help drive stocks' prices.
Commodity-related shares also moved higher as the euro
The PHLX OIl Service sector index <.OSX> gained 1.8
percent, buoyed by a 3.7 percent gain in Transocean Ltd
Monsanto Co
In other company news, BJ's Wholesale Club Inc
About 7.10 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq -- below the daily average so far this year of around 7.57 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by a ratio of about 7 to 3. On the Nasdaq, nearly seven stocks rose for every six that fell. (Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Jan Paschal)