The stock markets in the United States rebounded after suffering losses over the past two trading sessions, which were negatively impacted by concerns regarding the standoff between Greece and its creditors.
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Investors continue to monitor the development of the debt negotiations with Greece. The standoff ignited fears that Greece might be compelled to exit the European single-currency union.
Yesterday, Greece Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis stated that the government will implement approximately 70% of reforms included in the current bailout agreement. The government is also seeking support from lawmakers for a bridge funding plan.
In a telephone interview with Bloomberg, Stephen Carl, a principal and head equity trader at William Capita Group commented, “If this Greece compromise comes about, that will be a clear positive.”
[drizzle]Commenting on the movement of markets today, Joe Bell, a senior equity analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment Research told Bloomberg, “You’re seeing a continuation of the short-term momentum we experienced for most of last week.”
Bell added, “We’ve been pretty choppy throughout most of 2015 — a lot of volatility but not a lot of net direction. You had some positive news out of Greece. Most people expect that somehow, someway there will be some sort of settlement.”
Data compiled by Bloomberg showed that the S&P 500 recorded three separate advances since the beginning of the year. Upon reaching the level above 2,060 points, the index went downward. Today, the S&P 500 ended the trading session at 2,068.59 points.
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 17,868.59 (+1.07%)
- S&P 500- 2,068591 (+1.07%)
- NASDAQ- 4,787.64 (+0.30%)
- Russell 2000- 1,208.71 (+1.45%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,383.13 (+1.06%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,829.12 (-0.12%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 10,753.83 (+0.85%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 17,652.68 (-0.33%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 24,528.10 (+0.03%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,406.94 (+1.82%)
Stocks in Focus
The stock price of Coca-Cola gained 2.84% to $42.40 per share after reporting earnings that beat the consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts.
The beverage giant posted $0.44 in earnings per share on $10.87 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter. Coca-Cola benefitted from its cost-cutting measures.
General Motors Company climbed 4.22% to $37.52 per share. Harry Wilson, a former senior adviser of the auto task force of the Obama Administration plans to stand for election by shareholders to the board of the automaker during its 2015 annual meeting.
Wilson is also pushing for an $8 billion stock buyback. He indicated to GM’s board that he is representing David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management and three other hedge funds that own 2.1% of the company’s shares.
The shares of Qualcomm rose 4.69% to $70.26 per share after Chinese regulators concluded their antitrust investigation and imposed a $975 million penalty against the company.
China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) found that Qualcomm “restricted competition in the market, curbed technology innovation and harmed the interests of consumers.”
The regulator said the company can use its protected patent technology to charge reasonable patent fees.
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