Wall
Street rises after Ukraine deal, Swedish stimulus
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[February 12, 2015]
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced
early on Thursday, with the Nasdaq at a 15-year high, following a
ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine and surprising stimulus
measures by Sweden's central bank, although soft economic data tempered
gains.
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Leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine agreed a deal to end
fighting in eastern Ukraine, potentially removing a concern for
investors, although the pact remained fragile.
Also helping to lift futures was a decision by Sweden's Riksbank to
introduce negative interest rates and launch bond purchases, while
saying it could take further steps to fight falling prices.
Talks over Greek debt with euro zone finance ministers failed to
yield an agreement, with negotiations set to continue on Monday.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was in Brussels on Thursday to
lay out his case for more financial help to fellow EU leaders after
the talks with finance ministers stalled.
Gains were curbed as data showed initial jobless claims rose more
than expected in the latest week, while retail sales barely
rebounded in January. In addition, business inventories rose less
than expected in December, supporting views that fourth-quarter
growth was slower than initially thought.
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"You have all these sort of overseas positives and two domestic
negatives with the claims data and the retail sales data missing,"
said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated
Investors in New York.
"So we are still stuck in this trading range with a lot of
volatility and nervousness."
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 37.64 points, or 0.21 percent,
to 17,899.78, the S&P 500 gained 9.53 points, or 0.46 percent, to
2,078.06 and the Nasdaq Composite added 31.15 points, or 0.65
percent, to 4,832.34, its highest since March 2000.
Cisco Systems, which jumped 8.6 percent to $29.25 after the network
equipment maker reported stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue
and profit.
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Tesla Motors dropped 7.7 percent to $196.29 after the electric-car
maker missed fourth-quarter sales targets and analysts' profit
expectations.
Orbitz Worldwide shares surged 21.3 percent to $11.67 after the
online travel agency agreed to be acquired by Rival Expedia for
about $1.38 billion. Shares of Expedia were up 11.8 percent at
$87.48.
American Express shares dropped 6.2 percent to $80.71 as the biggest
drag on the Dow after it said Costco Wholesale Corp would stop
accepting its cards in the United States from next April, after the
companies failed to reach terms on the renewal of an agreement.
Costco shares edged down 0.4 percent to $146.89.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,110 to
602, for a 3.50-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,577
issues rose and 587 fell for a 2.69-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.
The benchmark S&P 500 index posted 34 new 52-week highs and no new
lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 60 new highs and 4 new lows.
(Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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