NEW YORK (AP) – Signs of progress in negotiations between Greece and its creditors helped set off a stock market rally early Wednesday, snapping a weeklong slump. Chevron and other oil and gas companies surged as the price of oil headed higher.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average was up 249 points, or 1.4 percent, to 18,012 as of 11:32 a.m. Eastern time. The early gain erased the Dow’s loss for the year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 26 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,105, while the Nasdaq composite gained 63 points, or 1.3 percent, to 5,078.
REACTION: Brad McMillan, the chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial, said he thinks investors are starting to shift their attention from Greece’s troubles to better news on the U.S. economy. “The market is starting to price in an improving economy,” he said. “And we’re seeing a lot of great economic numbers.”
GREECE: Bloomberg reported that Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, may be willing to release more money from Greece’s bailout fund if the Greek government commits to at least one move to tighten its budget. Without a deal by the end of the month, Greece faces the prospect of going bankrupt and dropping the euro.
BONDS: U.S. government bond prices continued to slide. That nudged the yield on the 10-year Treasury note to another high for the year, 2.49 percent, in early trading. Long-term interest rates have surged in recent months as the economy shows signs of shaking off its winter slump.
CRUDE: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 59 cents to $60.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 42 cents to $65.88 in London.
SPLITTING UP? Johnson Controls jumped 5 percent after the company announced that it was considering a sale of its automotive business. The company’s stock gained $2.40 to $53.96.
EUROPE: Germany’s DAX climbed 2.5 percent, while France’s CAC-40 rose 1.9 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares added 1.1 percent.
YEN MOVES: The Japanese yen rose sharply after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the currency is not likely to continue falling. The dollar fell 1.3 percent to 122.74 yen.
ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2 percent, and South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.6 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.1 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.1 percent lower.