Thursday, May 10, 2012

--Stocks rise as hope emerges that Greece can form government

--DJIA on pace to snap six-session streak of declines

--Weekly jobless claims slightly better than expectations

--Cisco Systems shares fall on downbeat outlook 


 
   By Chris Dieterich 
   OF DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Signs that Greek leaders might be able to stave off fractious elections drove the Dow industrials higher, while firm jobless claims data eased fears about weakness in the domestic labor market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 47 points, or 0.4%, to 12881 in midmorning Thursday trade, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index advanced five points, or 0.4%, to 1359. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite fell five points, or 0.2%, to 2929.

Financial-sector stocks like Bank of America, up 1.6%, led the market higher. Technology-sector stocks were the only group to lose ground as Cisco Systems slumped 9%. The blue-chip networking-equipment company gave a downbeat outlook for the current quarter, though earnings for the most-recent quarter topped analyst estimates.

In U.S. economic data, initial jobless claims fell slightly more than expected last week, while a reading on the previous week was revised slightly higher. Separately, the U.S. trade deficit widened in March, as a wave of oil imports and Chinese goods overwhelmed record exports.

European markets reversed course and turned higher as signs emerged that Greek leaders could form a government and shore up its commitment to remain in the euro zone. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.8% after earlier declining 0.7%.

"It's very difficult to steer a course through all this headline risk, and to trade equities, because [Europe's issues] completely deflects from U.S. fundamentals," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak. "The Greek population has to thoroughly examine the implications of being in or out of the euro zone. Investors are coming around to the conclusion that a euro zone without Greece wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing."

-Chris Dieterich, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2611; christopher.dieterich@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 10, 2012 10:36 ET (14:36 GMT)