Stocks open higher as Greek deal passes

By msnbc.com news services

U.S. stocks moved higher Monday, putting the S&P 500 index on track to bounce back from its biggest one-day loss of the year, as Greece's parliament approved strict financial reforms needed to obtain its latest international bailout package.

The European banking shares index gained 1.1 percent, and an index of Greek banks jumped 10.8 percent after the vote, which had sparked widespread rioting in Athens. The euro gained 0.22 percent against the dollar.

Bank of America Corp climbed 2.4 percent to $8.27 in New York and Citigroup Inc advanced 2 percent to $33.59.

"There was some apprehension about it, but the fact of the matter is it was done, and it's given some very real clarity to markets in terms of what kind of risk Greece represents to the market," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Capital in Jersey City, New Jersey.

"The politicians that were put in place, particularly the prime minister by the (European Central Bank), delivered on the goods, and the markets are largely banking on the fact he will be able to deliver on the actual outcome."

Even with parliamentary approval, the Greek government remained under pressure to convince a skeptical euro zone that it would abide by the terms of a multi-billion-euro rescue package.

Shares of Apple Inc moved above the $500 level for the first time ever.

Separately, Apple raised the stakes in an intensifying global patent battle with Samsung Electronics by targeting Samsung's latest model using Google Inc.'s fast growing Android software, a move that may affect other Android phone makers.

Prudential Financial Inc, the No. 2 U.S. life insurer, hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to advise on its possible bid for ING Groep NV's Asian insurance operations, South Korean media reported, in what is potentially Asia's second-biggest insurance sale ever. U.S.-listed shares of ING gained 3.2 percent to $8.81.

Industrial conglomerate United Technologies Corp is reviewing the possibility of selling its flow and compressor businesses that could fetch a combined $3.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

Google is expected to win approval from European regulators, as well as from U.S. antitrust authorities, for its planned $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility, according to people familiar with the matter.

As earnings season moves into its final stages, 51 companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to report results this week. According to Thomson Reuters data through Friday, of the 352 companies in the benchmark index that have released results, 63 percent have beat analyst expectations.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to submit to the U.S. Congress his fiscal 2013 budget proposal, which attempts to chart a fiscal path for the next 10 years.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/13/10396239-stocks-open-higher-as-greek-deal-passes

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