S&P 500: Stocks Open Higher on Greek Economic Data
The S&P 500 is opening the trading session higher on Thursday, June 25, as investors are optimistic for a deal to avert a Greek default on a proposal from its creditors.
The differences between Greece’s proposal and that of its creditors are not big enough to justify failing to reach an agreement, a senior Greek government official said. Greek officials said that if talks fell apart, the country does not have the money to pay the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday.
The S&P 500is starting the trading day in the green,up 0.36% as of 9:35 a.m. E.T. The broad-based Dow Jones Industrial Average and technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite Indexare also inching higher.
Also Read: S&P 500: Greek Debt Talks Send Indices Down
Top Market News Today
Strong Consumer Spending
U.S. consumer spending increased 0.5% in May—its largest increase in nearly six years. The report is further evidence that economic growth was gaining strength in the second quarter.
Insight on Interest Rates
Federal Reserve official Jerome Powell is scheduled to deliver a speech on the banking system. Traders will be listening for insight on monetary policy during the question period.
Greek Banks Running Out of Cash
The European Central Bank held the limit on their emergency funding for the Greek’s banks steady for the second day running. However, Greece’s central bank may not have asked for an increase.
Stocks to Watch
BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ/BBRY)
The smartphone maker announced that it plans to buy back 12 million shares to offset the dilution from a new employee stock purchase plan. Yet investors are pessimistic of where the company is headed as the earnings were worse than analyst expectations.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE/LLY)
The company’s rating was upgraded from to “Buy” from ‘Neutral” by the Bank of America and Merrill Lynch. The increase came on increased estimates for several drugs still in Lilly’s pipeline.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ/NFLX)
Citigroup downgraded it to “Neutral” from “Buy’ as the company’s stocks have nearly doubled from last year. Carl Ichan also sold off his entire share of Netflix. As the legendary hedge fund manager tweeted, “Sold the last of our [Netflix] today.”
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE/DIS)
The company raised its divided by 15% and now plans to make dividend payments semi-annually. Typically, rising in dividends may indicate the health of the company.
IPO Exploration
TransUnion (NYSE/TRU), CNX Coal Resources LP (NYSE/CNXC), Wayne Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ/WNFM), and Gener8 Maritime Inc. (NYSE/GNRT) are set to hit the market today. Investors are excited to see the first of these companies’ IPOs.
