Stock market rallies on Greece plan and U.S. data
The U.S. stock market rose on Wednesday after positive developments from Greece and encouraging U.S. economic data.
The S&P 500 Index rose 5.32 points, or 0.48 percent, to trade at 1,123.63 at 12:21 pm. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 34.08 points, or 0.33 percent, to trade at 10,440.06.
Rising Commodity Prices
Crude oil futures shook off a 10:30 a.m. EST report of higher than expected U.S. oil inventories.
NYMEX April crude oil futures briefly dipped to trade negative for the day in reaction to the news. However, the oil futures quickly recovered to trade up 1.32 percent. NYMEX April copper futures are also trading up 0.78 percent.
Firms involved in commodities are leading the rally Wednesday. The American Depository Receipts (ADRs) of Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) rose 1.74 percent and those of BHP Billiton (NYSE:BBL) rose 3.45 percent. Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) rose 2.88 percent and Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) rose 1.45 percent.
Greece Deficit
Recent comments made by top Greek officials seem to indicate the government's serious commitment its austerity measures.
Greece unveiled additional pay cuts and tax hikes on Wednesday that will cut its budget deficit by $6.54 billion this year.
There is also increasing speculation that the European Union is moving towards a rescue package for Greece. The cost of insuring its sovereign debt and the yields on its bonds fell Wednesday.
U.S. Economic Data
At 8:15 am EST, an ADP report showed that non-farm private payrolls decreased by 20,000 in February. The decrease is the lowest since February 2008.
The report eased investor sentiment ahead of Thursday's unemployment claims and Friday's unemployment rate and non-farm payroll change.
At 10:00 am EST, the Institute for Supply Management reported that the services sector grew for the second consecutive month. The reading beat the median forecast of economists according to Bloomberg and increased from last month.
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