Stocks Surge as Nike Leads Dow; Greece Debt Talks Show Progress

Stocks snap back from Thursday's losses with the Dow on track for its second best week of the year, while the Nasdaq rises above 5,000.
By Keris Alison Lahiff ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks snapped back from Thursday's losses with the Dow Jones Industrial Average on track for its second best week of the year, while the Nasdaq rose above 5,000.

The S&P 500 was up 0.85% on Friday, the Dow added 1%, and the Nasdaq climbed 0.72%.

Dow component Nike (NKE) - Get Reportjumped nearly 4% after reporting quarterly profit up 16% and revenue up 7%. Sales were slightly lower than expected as the sports retailer faced foreign exchange headwinds.

Greece's debt talks edged toward a solution on Friday after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to hasten the details of his reform plans in exchange for bailout funds following a meeting with European Union leaders in Brussels. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said leaders expected a list of reforms over the next few days. 

Germany's DAX was up 1.1%, France's CAC 40 added 0.7%, and the FTSE 100 in London edged 0.46% higher. The Athens Stock Exchange jumped 3.6%. 

The euro strengthened against the U.S. dollar in response to signs of progress at the meeting. The euro climbed 1.5% against the greenback, on track for its best weekly gain in 18 months.

Crude oil rebounded from earlier losses with West Texas Intermediate up 3% to $45.25 a barrel. Earlier, oil was pressured as British, French and German foreign ministers prepared to meet with Iran to possibly ease sanctions as part of a nuclear deal. Iran has the capacity to export around 1 million barrels of oil per day, adding to global oversupply. 

With no economic data due out Friday, trading could be more volatile than usual given it is a quadruple-witching session, one of four days of the year in which futures and options contracts expire at once.

Tiffany (TIF) - Get Report dropped 3.3% after earning $1.47 a share in its recent quarter, missing estimates of $1.51. Net sales increased 3% on a constant-currency basis.

Darden Restaurants (DRI) - Get Report jumped 3.7% as third-quarter earnings of 99 cents a share beat by 15 cents and sales surged nearly 7%. The restaurant chain said comparable-restaurant sales climbed 3.2% on stronger pricing and increased traffic.

Bank of New York Mellon (BK) - Get Report was on watch after settling foreign exchange probes with federal and state officials. The bank agreed to pay $714 million to settle the allegations of fraud. Shares were up 0.63%.

Biogen (BIIB) - Get Report added 6.2% after detailing the latest developments of its experimental drug for Alzheimer's disease at a conference in France. Clinical tests for the drug showed improved cognition in patients.

Phillips (PHG) - Get Report shares were on watch after Bloomberg reported KKR and CVC Capital were close to a deal to buy 80% of its lighting unit. The deal would be worth around 2.5 billion euros.

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