US stocks rise as eBay, Citi, others report strong earnings
This July 6, 2015 photo shows a Wall Street address on a building in New York’s financial district. European stocks jumped, leading gains in global benchmarks Thursday, July 16, 2015, after Greek lawmakers approved an austerity bill needed for another bailout. AP
NEW YORK— Stocks are rising broadly in morning trading Thursday after several big companies reported better-than-expected earnings. Citigroup, Intel, Netflix and eBay all beat analysts’ forecasts. The rise in U.S. stocks follows a rally in European markets on news that Greece’s parliament approved pension reforms and other measures demanded by its creditors.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average was up 36 points, or 0.2 percent, at 18,086 as of 11:09 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 13 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,120. The Nasdaq composite climbed 47 points, or 0.9 percent, to 5,146.
GREEK RELIEF: Greece’s eurozone creditors agreed to start discussions about a new bailout package after that country’s lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a strict austerity bill that the creditors had demanded. Separately, the European Union agreed to provide a short-term loan to Greece and the European Central Bank decided to raise the amount of emergency liquidity available to the country’s banks.
NETFLIX SOARS: Netflix jumped 15 percent, the biggest gainer in the S&P 500, after announcing late Wednesday that it had attracted 3.3 million more subscribers to its service in the second quarter, far more than projected. Netflix said earnings fell 63 percent for the three-month period, but still beat expectations. Its stock rose $14.38 to $112.50.
EBAY RISES: EBay rose $2.70, or four percent, to $66.14 after announcing second quarter earnings that topped Wall Street expectations. The company also said it had sold a business that helps develop online sites for retailers as it prepares to spin off PayPal.
CHIPS AHOY: Intel rose 19 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $29.88 after it said late Wednesday that greater demand from data centers and sales of memory products helped counteract the slumping PC market in the second quarter. Earnings at the world’s largest chip maker fell compared to last year, but the results beat Wall Street estimates.
OTHER EARNINGS: Investor sentiment was also helped by upbeat earnings from Citigroup and Philip Morris. Though investment bank Goldman Sachs saw its profit slump due to a rise in legal costs, its revenue figure was better than analysts had expected.
CURRENCIES: The euro fell to its lowest level since the beginning of June, slipping to $1.0882 from $1.0954 in late trading Wednesday. The dollar was roughly flat at 124 yen.
ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.7 percent and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.7 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.4 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China gained after two days of big drops, climbing 0.5 percent.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 13 cents to $51.28 a barrel in New York.
BOND: U.S government bond prices edged lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.36 percent from 2.35 percent.
