NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose in early trading Thursday as energy and technology stocks climbed.
Cisco Systems led gains for the technology sector after reporting better-than-expected earnings. Energy stocks advanced as the price of oil rebounded following two days of heavy losses.
European markets got a lift after world leaders clinched a cease-fire deal for Ukraine and as investors remained hopeful that Greece would be able to reach a deal on its debts with its creditors.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 12 points, to 0.6 percent, to 2,078 as of 9:52 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones industrial gained 38 points, or 0.2 to 17,897. The Nasdaq composite climbed 30 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,831.
CISCO EARNINGS: Cisco jumped $2.34, or 8.7 percent, to $29.27 after it reported earnings late Wednesday that exceeded analysts’ expectations. The company’s outlook for the full year was also better than expected.
TRAVEL MERGER: Shares of Orbitz surged $2.03, or 21 percent, to $11.65 after Expedia agreed to buy the online booking company for about $1.3 billion. It’s Expedia’s second major deal in the past month as the industry consolidates. Expedia gained $9.13, or 12 percent, to $87.38.
GREEK DEBT: An emergency meeting Wednesday between Greece’s new government and finance ministers from nations that use the euro ended in a stalemate. Greece wants its eurozone creditors to ease the terms of a bailout program that has imposed years of austerity on the country. Still, investors were still hopeful that a deal will be reached before the country’s bailout program expires at the end of the month. The main Athens stock index was up 5 percent.
UKRAINE: Markets were buoyed by news that all-night negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany had produced a peace deal for Ukraine. The conflict has weighed on the economies of Europe and Russia by creating uncertainty and through the impact of sanctions that the two sides have traded.
EUROPE’S DAY: Germany’s DAX gained 1.6 percent to 10,922 and Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.1 percent to 6,829. France’s CAC 40 was 1.1 percent higher at 4,729.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained $2.15 to $50.99 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, rebounding after two days of big losses.
BONDS AND CURRENCIES: In government bond trading, prices were little changed from Wednesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note held at 1.99 percent.
The dollar fell to 119.36 yen from 120.16 yen in the previous day. The euro rose to $1.1386 from $1.1319.
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