BackUS stocks rise on Greek deal hopes even as energy drops
Dow Jones up 0.43%, S&P 500 adds 0.63%, Nasdaq gains 0.93%
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New York: US stocks rose on Tuesday on hopes that Greek debt negotiations could result in a deal to stabilize Europe and stocks such as Apple boosted indices, although a drop in energy shares and oil prices limited the advance.
The European Commission will introduce a compromise proposal in which Greece should ask for a six-month period to discuss with lenders any pending issues and post-bailout plan, according to a report by MNSI, citing unnamed sources.
The Commission said there was no formal proposal for resolving Greece’s debt problems, although talks were intensive ahead of a series of meetings of euro zone finance ministers and EU leaders in Brussels.
“Clearly the market thinks some resolution’s going to come out of this that’s going to make bondholders not suffer the consequences, and that’s why the market is up," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.
The first drop in oil prices in four sessions weighed on the S&P energy index, sending it down 1.1%, the only one of 10 S&P sectors to decline. US crude was off 5% at $50.22 per barrel after the International Energy Agency warned of more selloffs in the near term as stockpiles continue to rise.
“We are going to bounce around here until there is some clarity and some stability in the price of oil and economically in the European Union," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York.
At 2:03 pm, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 75.78 points, or 0.43%, to 17,804.99, the S&P 500 gained 12.96 points, or 0.63%, to 2,059.7 and the Nasdaq Composite added 43.98 points, or 0.93%, to 4,769.99.
Coca-Cola Co shares climbed 2.6% to $42.21 to help lift both the Dow and S&P 500. It reported a better-than-expected profit and sales in North America, its biggest market, rose for the first time in four quarters to offset the impact of a strong dollar on its overseas business.
Apple Inc shares rose 1.6% and helped boost the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 after it priced Swiss franc bonds.
Pfizer Inc helped boost the S&P healthcare sector after saying it would buy back $5 billion of its stock.
Even with high-profile earnings misses from multinationals, largely as a result of dollar strength, Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning showed that 72.7% of S&P 500 companies beat earnings estimates, above the 69% beat rate in the past four quarters.
NYSE declining issues outnumbered advancers 1,518 to 1,478, for a 1.03-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,546 issues rose and 1,176 fell for a 1.31-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.
The S&P 500 was posting 22 new 52-week highs and 2 lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 43 new highs and 33 lows. Reuters
Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak.
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