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