U.S. stocks rose slightly Monday in a ho-hum opening after their best week of the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average spent most of the morning in the red, then climbed to 13,247, up 15 points. The Standard & Poor’s 500 and Nasdaq composite fell in the early minutes of trading but then rose. The S&P 500 was up five points to 1,410, and the Nasdaq was up 18 to 3,074.
Last week, the Dow and S&P 500 rose 2.4 percent apiece, their best showing of the year. For the first time, the Dow closed above 13,000 and the Nasdaq above 3,000 on the same day.
In the absence of any major economic news, the markets latched on to announcements from a few well-known companies.
Apple rose about 2 percent to $595.88 after announcing that it would pay a shareholder dividend and buy back $10 billion of its stock over three years. The stock hit an all-time high of $600.01 last week.
The dividend is expected to expand the company’s shareholder reach because value-oriented mutual funds that focus on dividends will buy it. Apple’s stock has already risen from $405 this year, partly in anticipation of the dividend.
UPS rose 4 percent after announcing it would buy TNT Express, the second-largest express mail company in Europe, further cementing UPS’ status as the world’s largest delivery company.
Citigroup rose 4 percent after announcing it had sold its share in a Shanghai bank for $668 million. The move should help the bank establish its own businesses in China. The bank is slimming down to try to shake off the vestiges of the financial crisis.
Sprint Nextel fell 5 percent after a Sanford C. Bernstein analyst downgraded the stock to underperform and predicted that future incarnations of the iPhone will not work too well with the Sprint network. The analyst, Craig Moffett, also expressed concern about the company’s heavy debt burden.
There was little in the way of major economic indicators. The National Association of Home Builders index of builder confidence came in unchanged from the previous month.
“There’s not really a lot to say,” said Stephen Carl, head equity trader at Williams Capital Group. “I guess we could just toss a coin in the air and see which way it goes.”
Prices for U.S. Treasury debt slid for the ninth day in a row, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note hit 2.32 percent, the highest since October. Investors feeling more confident in the economy are putting their money in riskier assets like stocks.
European markets were mixed. The main stock indexes fell less than 1 percent in France, Britain and Germany. Stocks rose 1.7 percent in Greece and 0.7 percent in Spain.
Though Greece’s debt crisis has faded from the spotlight, Greece remains in deep recession, and uncertainty lingers. Unions throughout Europe are protesting cuts in benefits, making it difficult for governments to rein in their spending.
Leadership questions are also bubbling up, with the Greek finance minister stepping down to run the majority Socialist party and France gearing up for presidential elections.
At a conference Sunday in Beijing, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said that European leaders need to stay vigilant about debt.
“The world economy has stepped back from the brink, and we have causes to be a little bit more optimistic,” she said. “But optimism should not give us a sense of comfort and certainly should not lull us into a false sense of security.”
The price of oil continued to rise, climbing to $107.70, up 63 cents. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline rose a penny over the weekend to $3.84 and is up 30 cents in a month, pushed higher by tension in Europe over Iran’s nuclear program..
Increased domestic sales helped Synergetics USA Inc. raise profits in the second quarter of fiscal 2012, which ended on January 31.
The O’Fallon, Mo.-based maker of equipment for eye and brain surgeries reported a net income of about $1.9 million, or 7 cents a share, compared to $1 cashadvance.3 million, or 5 cents a share, a year ago. Sales rose 14 percent to $15.1 million.
Euro-area finance ministers signed off on a second Greek bailout, clearing the way for the first payment from the 130 billion-euro package ($170 billion) to be made this month.
Direct Energy is changing its water heater rental contracts and making it more expensive for customers to switch suppliers or buy their own units.
Right now, customers can remove rented water heaters any time at no cost. They may pay a $75 fee if they want Direct Energy to disconnect, remove and retrieve the tank.
But under new contract terms to start April 2, customers who cancel their rental contracts will pay a buyout fee ranging from $100 to $1,000 or more, depending on the unit
Pump prices continued to march toward $4 a gallon Thursday, as signs of a stronger U.S. economy helped push benchmark oil near $108 per barrel.
Retail gasoline prices continued a five-week rise to a national average of $3.74 per gallon. That’s up 37 cents per gallon, or 11 percent, since late January, the last time gasoline prices fell. Prices have never been so high at this time of the year.
Benchmark crude rose 53 cents to $107.60 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is imported by many U.S. refiners to make gasoline, rose $1.91 to $124.57 a barrel in London.
Oil prices have risen 9 percent this year because global demand is high and supplies have been disrupted in South Sudan, Syria and elsewhere. There also is concern that tensions with Iran over its nuclear program could lead to further supply problems.
The U.S. economy has continued to grow even though high oil prices are taking spending money from consumers and make shipping and travel more expensive.
Economic data released Thursday showed applications for unemployment hit a four-year low, spending on residential construction rose and major retailers reported stronger-than-expected sales for February.
Stock prices rose on Wall Street Thursday, helped by the encouraging economic news. That bolstered the feeling that the economy could start burning more oil payday loans.
“It’s almost impossible for oil to stay down with equities rising,” said Rich Ilczyszyn, an analyst at ITrader.
Economists worry that high oil prices will eventually take a toll on the economy, though.
“We’ve weathered it OK so far, but it could become a much stronger headwind than we anticipate,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial.
Consumers have been helped by low heating and electricity bills this winter, which have eased the pain of high fill-up costs. The weather has been unusually mild across much of the country and natural gas, which is used to heat many homes and to generate electricity, has been cheap.
Natural gas futures fell more than 6 percent Thursday to $2.46 per thousand cubic feet after the government reported that supplies of natural gas declined less than anticipated last week. The nation’s supplies in storage are 45 percent above the five-year average and prices are close to a 10-year low.
In other energy trading, gasoline futures rose 4 cents to $3.30 a gallon. Heating oil rose by 1 cent to $3.22 a gallon.
BERLIN
A two-point gain was enough to push the Standard & Poor’s 500 index to its highest level since June 2008, three months before the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the darkest days of the financial crisis.
The S&P 500 index closed at 1,365.74, beating its 2011 closing high by two points.
For the second day this week, the Dow Jones industrial average nudged above 13,000 then pulled back. It rose 29 points in the morning but wavered in the afternoon. The Dow dropped 1.74 points to close at 12,982.95. American Express was the leading stock among the 30 that make up the average, gaining 1.2 percent.
It was a similar story on Tuesday, when the Dow flitted above 13,000 three times but ended the day lower. The average hasn’t closed above 13,000 since May 19, 2008.
What will it take for the Dow to close above 13,000 and stay there? Mark Lamkin, CEO of Lamkin Wealth Management in Louisville, Ky., said it would require a surprising news event, like a huge merger or an economic report that blows past expectations.
“It needs some type of surprise, a bombshell,” Lamkin said. “We’ve had a pretty good run over the past four months. Now it’s going to take something great to keep it above 13,000.”
The two economic reports out Friday didn’t make the cut.
A consumer sentiment index taken by the University of Michigan and Reuters edged up in February to its highest level in a year. And the Commerce Department reported that sales of new homes dipped slightly in January, but the figure still topped economists’ estimates. It also said sales in the final three months of 2011 were higher than previously reported.
“The numbers are just OK,” Lamkin said. “They weren’t bad, but they weren’t great, either.”
In other trading, the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.77 points to 2,963.75.
Oil prices hit a nine-month high of $109.77 a barrel. The price of oil has jumped 10 percent this month amid rising concerns about a conflict with Iran.
The euro added a penny against the dollar, hitting $1.346, its highest since Dec. 5. Greece made a formal offer to creditors to swap their Greek government bonds for new ones, another step toward knocking $142 billion off its debts. The swap is part of a deal to prevent Greece from defaulting on a debt payment due next month.
Stock indexes have been climbing since November as European officials redoubled their efforts to contain the region’s debt crisis and the European Central Bank extended cheap loans to troubled banks. The S&P 500 index has gained 8.6 percent to start 2012, better than its long-term annual average gain.
In contrast to the volatile trading of late last year, the market’s gains have been small but steady. To Lamkin, the lack of large swings looks ominous. The world is still full of dangers, he said. Lamkin tells his clients that the top risks are another flare-up in the European debt crisis and a war between Israel and Iran.
“When the next big thing happens, and it will, you’re going to see a pullback,” he said. “I think we’re due.”
Among stocks making big moves:
_ Sprint Nextel Corp. lost 2 percent. The country’s largest cable company, Comcast, filed a suit against Sprint Nextel, alleging that it was violating Comcast’s patents.
_ Gap fell 4 percent. The clothing retailer reported a 40 percent plunge in quarterly profit after the market closed Thursday. Gap said higher costs and deep discounts weighed on its revenue.
_ Deckers Outdoor Corp. sank 14 percent after the maker of Ugg boots and Teva footwear said higher costs will lead to lower profits for the quarter and full year.
_ Kenneth Cole Production Inc. soared 18 percent to $15.49 on news that Kenneth Cole is offering to buy the rest of the company. Cole currently holds about 47 percent of the company and has offered would give stockholders $15 per share, a 15 percent premium to the company’s Thursday closing price.
Asian stock markets fell Tuesday even as European leaders appeared to have finally clinched a deal for a rescue package to prevent Greece from going belly up.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was down 0.2 percent at 9,464.19. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.5 percent to 21,323.99 and South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.8 percent to 2,009.79. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore, mainland China and the Philippines also fell.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.7 percent to 4,287.10. New Zealand and Indonesia also rose.
Early Tuesday, a EU diplomat The Associated Press that European leaders had agreed to a rescue package for Greece, which has been teetering on the brink of a major debt default. The rescue money had been delayed because lenders wanted the country to do more cost-cutting first.
The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement was pending.
Greece urgently needs the euro130 billion ($170 billion) package before it can move ahead with yet another deal to sharply reduce the amount of money Greece owes its private investors. Without the money, Greece will default on its debts, starting on March 20 when a bond repayment is due.
But the reported deal didn’t make a dent on markets. Many observers feel it falls far short of what Greece needs to prevent financial collapse.
On top of that: Europe does not have the will or the ability to spend the amount actually required to keep Athens afloat, analysts said.
“Greece is a hopeless case,” said Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong.
In Tokyo, a waning yen failed to perk up many of Japan’s big exporters, whose profits increase when the home currency weakens. Panasonic Corp. lost 2.1 percent, Sharp Corp. fell 1.6 percent and Nintendo Co. fell 1.4 percent.
In Australia strong earnings reports helped set a positive tone. OneSteel, the country’s second-biggest steel maker, jumped 11.9 percent after releasing a bullish forecast about growth from its mining interests.
U.S. markets were closed Monday for President’s Day holiday. Traders will be looking for signs of economic recovery in the world’s No. 1 economy on Wednesday, when the National Association of Realtors releases existing home sales for January.
Benchmark oil for March delivery was up $1.65 to $105.25 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The euro jumped to $1.3269 from $1.3159 late Friday in New York. The dollar rose to 79.68 yen from 79.46 yen.
Gasoline prices jumped 0.9 percent in January, pushing overall consumer prices up at their fastest clip in four months and offering a reminder of the risks energy costs could pose to the economic recovery.
Still, the 0.2 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index reported by the Labor Department on Friday is unlikely to ring alarm bells at the Federal Reserve, which is trying to decide whether the economy needs another dose of monetary stimulus.
“(The data) doesn’t prevent another round of quantitative easing to stimulate the economy,” said Brian Kim, a currency strategist at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Stamford, Connecticut.
The rise in prices was just below analysts’ expectations of a 0.3 percent increase.
The gain in gasoline prices was the first in four months. Tensions in the Middle East have been pushing oil prices higher, leading to extra costs at the pump for Americans.
After rising throughout January, the national price for regular unleaded gasoline prices rose to $3.58 a gallon in the week through Monday, according to the Energy Information Administration. It had started the year around $3.32 a gallon.
The Labor Department report showed that after stripping out food and energy, the so-called core reading rose 0.2 percent, which was in line with expectations.
However, the report also showed the rate of core price increases in the twelve months through January unexpectedly climbed to 2 online pay day loans.3 percent.
The increase in the 12-month core reading, which is seen as a barometer of inflation trends, might be read as a sign that inflation pressures are not subsiding as quickly as expected.
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Graphic on January U.S. CPI: link.reuters.com/xyr66s
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At the close of its January meeting, the Fed said it would likely keep interest rates at rock-bottom levels until at least late 2014. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke expressed caution about recent improvements in the economy and left the door open to further Fed bond buying to boost growth.
U.S. stock investors shrugged off the inflation data. U.S. Treasury debt prices held at lower levels.
Earlier, world stocks hit a fresh 6-1/2 month high and the euro held above recent lows as hopes Greece will seal a long-awaited bailout deal next week fuelled risk appetite.
Overall consumer prices rose 2.9 percent year-on-year after increasing 3.0 percent in December. That was in line with economists’ expectations.
Moderating the monthly gain in core prices, used car and truck prices fell 1.0 percent and new vehicle prices were flat.
Asian stock markets rose Monday, just hours after Greece’s parliament approved a new set of austerity measures that were required by international lenders in exchange for an emergency bailout.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.2 percent to 8,963.48. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.3 percent to 20,837.46. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.5 percent to 2,002.72.
Drastic cuts in civil service jobs, minimum wages and pensions were among the measures approved by lawmakers in Athens in order to collect a second, urgently needed rescue loan.
Without the $170 billion (euro130 billion) financial lifeline, Greece will default on a mountain of national debt next month and likely be pressed into a disruptive exit from the euro common currency.
Investors in Asia greeted the Greek vote with relief. But Greeks, who have been struggling to cope with a 20 percent unemployment rate and five years of recession, took to the streets to protest the measures. Riots and fires continued all weekend.
Attention now shifts to a meeting Wednesday of European finance ministers, who will discuss additional bailout funds for Greece.
Analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said in an email that the parliament vote “did not come without major cost in the form of escalating protests and violence within Greece.”
“At least for today the market tone will be a positive one as attention shifts to a meeting of EU finance ministers on Wednesday.”
Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 91 cents at $99.58 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.17 to settle at $98.67 on the Nymex on Friday.
In currency trading, the euro jumped to $1.3235 from $1.3170 late Friday in New York. The dollar rose to 77.62 yen from 77.60 Japanese yen.
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