Market News: Facebook, Microsoft, MarkWest Energy Partners

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The stock market in the United States rally after Greece reached an agreement with its international creditors. The S&P 500 recorded its best three-day gain since March. The index rose 1.10% to 2,099.53 points today.

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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accepted the demands of the European leaders as his country needed an immediate financial aid of as much as $95 billion to remain in the Eurozone.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said, “The Greek government has accepted practically everything. It accepted all the crucial and important points.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “Trust has to be rebuilt. The Greek authorities have to take on responsibility for what they agreed to. It now hinges on the step-by-step implementation of what we agreed.”

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Rob Lutts, chief investment officer at Cabot Wealth Management, told Bloomberg, “It’s great hearing Greece is not going over the deep end.” He added that Greece’s decision to remain in the Eurozone and to implement reform is “good for the rest of the world for now.”

Furthermore, Lutt’s noted that the market volatility last week were primarily driven by concerns about Greece and China.

Meanwhile, investors will continue to monitor economic data to determine the timing of the implementation of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Chairperson Janet Yellen expected an interest rate increase this year. Investors are also watching the corporate earnings reports closely.

U.S. Markets

  • Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 17,977.28 (+1.22%)
  • S&P 500- 2,099.53 (+1.10%)
  • NASDAQ- 5,071.51 (+1.48%)
  • Russell 2000- 1,265.82 (+1.10%)

European Markets

  • EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,590.43 (+1.75%)
  • FTSE 100 Index- 6,737.95 (+0.97%)
  • Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 11,484.38 (+1.49%)

Asia-Pacific Markets

  • Nikkei 225- 20,089.77 (+1.57%)
  • Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 25,224.01 (+1.30%)
  • Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 4,211.81 (+2.56%)

Stocks in Focus

The stock price of Facebook increased 2.44% to $90.10 per share. The social network giant is reportedly considering the idea of introducing the “like” button on its messaging platform, WhatsApp. Facebook is also planning to add the “Mark as unread” option for messages.

The stock value of Microsoft climbed 2.08% to $45.54 per share. The company unveiled its new Machine Teaching Project.

MarkWest Energy Partners gained 13.79% to $68.01 per share. The company entered a merger agreement with MPLX in a unit-for-unit exchange transaction. The deal included a one-time cash payment of $3.37 per unit to MarkWest unitholders. They will also receive 1.09 MPLX common units. The total consideration was $78.64 per MarkWest common unit based on the closing price of MPLX units o July 10.

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