US STOCKS-Wall St grinds higher in light session

                                
 * Traders see selling pressures ebbing
                                
 * Energy strength supports Dow, S&P
                                
 * 200-day moving average holds for third day in a row
                                
 * Dow up 0.2 pct; S&P up 0.1 pct; Nasdaq up 0.1 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates to close)
                                
 By Edward Krudy
                                
 NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ground higher in
another lightly traded session on Friday, ending a nervous week
with gains despite signs of economic weakness at home and
worries about public debt in Europe.
                                
 Major indexes rose for the second straight week even though
housing and labor market data raised concern about the
fragility of the recovery. The S&P 500 closed above its 200-day
moving average for the third straight session, which suggests
resilience.
                                
 "A lot of investors did get very bearish here, and that's a
good sign that we had some selling. That has probably exhausted
itself, so the pressures are ebbing," said Steve Goldman,
market strategist, Weeden & Co. in Greenwich, Connecticut.
                                
 Energy shares helped support the Dow and S&P 500 on Friday,
with some investors betting stocks beaten down due to the Gulf
of Mexico oil spill had run their course. Cameron International
<CAM.N> rose 1 percent to $37.98 while Halliburton Co <HAL.N>
rose 2.2 percent to $26.98.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 16.47
points, or 0.16 percent, to 10,450.64. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> rose 1.47 points, or 0.13 percent, to
1,117.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 2.64 points,
or 0.11 percent, to 2,309.80.
                                
 The market has struggled to make headway since Tuesday's
strong run when stocks rose on positive feelings engendered
from successful debt auctions in Europe.
                                
 The broad-based S&P 500 is down about 8 percent since a
recent high on April 23 after having fallen around 14 percent,
largely on fears on sovereign debt defaults in Europe.
                                
 For the week, the Dow and the S&P 500 gained 2.4 percent
and the Nasdaq added 3 percent.
                                
 Energy shares rose with crude oil ending higher at $77.18 a
barrel. Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N> was up 0.8 percent at $63.10,
and was among top boosts to the Dow.
                                
 BP Plc's <BP.L><BP.N> New York-traded shares edged 0.2
percent higher a day after its chief executive underwent a
bruising appearance before a U.S. congressional committee over
the oil spill and the company said it would establish a $20
billion compensation and clean-up fund. For details, see
[ID:nN1797154]
                                
 Caterpillar Inc <CAT.N> reported an 11 percent rise in
global dealer sales of its heavy machinery in the three months
ended in May, driven by strong growth in the Asia-Pacific
region. The company's shares rose 1.5 percent to $65.85 and
were the top boost to the Dow.
                                
 Traders said the convergence of four key expirations, known
as quadruple witching, had added to volatility. Stock options
expire later Friday, while index futures expired earlier in the
session.
                                
 The June SPDR S&P 500 fund <SPY.P> options, an
exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 benchmark, showed
a light turnover volume ahead of expiration at the close later
in the day, according to Jon Najarian, founder of options
information website optionMonster.com.
                                
 Declining shares included Teva's U.S.-listed shares
<TEVA.O>, Bayer <BAYGn.DE> said on Thursday Teva's U.S. unit
admitted in court that some of the information included on
packages of its oral contraceptive, Gianvi, was false and
agreed to correct its labeling. Teva fell 1.9 percent to
 $53.21.
                                
 CVS Caremark Corp <CVS.N> rose 1.9 percent to $32.43 and
Walgreen Co <WAG.N> added 2.8 percent to $30.09 after the
companies patched up their fight over reimbursements for drug
prescriptions, salvaging a relationship worth billions of
dollars. [ID:nN18123438].
                                
 Although the S&P 500 held above its 200-day moving average
since Tuesday, it has found resistance near 1,121, a key level
that marks the halfway point between the October 2007 historic
highs and the lows of March 2009.
                                
 About 8.01 billion shares traded on the New York Stock
Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, well below
last year's estimated daily average of 9.65 billion.
                                
 Advancing stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of 5 to 4, on Nasdaq six stocks rose for every five
that fell.
 (Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Kenneth Barry)