Stocks Close Higher On Greek Reassurances - Seekingalpha.com

4:07 PM, Sep 14, 2011 --

• NYSE up 88 (+1.3%) to 7,198.51
• DJIA up 140 (1.3%) to 11,246.58
• S&P 500 up 15.80 (+1.4%) to 1,188.68
• Nasdaq up 40 (+1.6%) to 2,572.55

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

• Nikkei down 1.1%.
• Hang Seng up 0.1%.
• Shanghai Composite up 0.5%.
• FTSE-100 up 1.7%.
• DAX-30 up 2.4%.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) PFE downgraded.

(-) JWN downgraded.

(-) EOG downgraded.

(-) SEED says CEO resigns, unit restructured, cuts sales view.

(-) RAH falls as ConAgra backs bid.

(-) EXLS prices shares.

(-) TSL gains despite analyst downgrade.

(-) JASO edges higher despite analyst downgrade.

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) JAKK gets offer for $20 a share.

(+) EBAY recovers from evening dip that followed report of DOJ probe.

(+) GGP secures mall refinancing.

(+) GLCH in modified Dutch auction to buy up to 10 mln shares.

(+) BCS gains despite analyst downgrade.

(+) DELL announced buyback in evening session.

(+) YHOO gains on report Board looking at options.

MARKET DIRECTION

Stocks closed their third straight day of gains, finding relief in apparent progress in help for Greece. Wall Street remained focused on European developments. A duo of U.S. economic reports this morning showed that retail sales and prices paid by producers for wholesale goods both were little changed in August. Retail data was below analyst expectations.

Reports say German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly reaffirmed their support for Greece. Merkel, Sarkozy and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who talked by conference call Wednesday, agreed Greece will remain in the eurozone, Reuters reported. They stood by decisions reached in July by European leaders that are meant to save Greece from a disorderly default, the news service said, citing a Greek government spokesman.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also weighed in, saying that European leaders know they need to act more forcefully to solve sovereign debt issues in the eurozone.

In an interview on CNBC this morning, Treasury Secretary Geithner said the chief concern for European politicians is to make it clear that they will stand behind the financial system, MarketWatch reported. Geithner also said that there is "no chance" of a Lehman-style European default, the report said.

In the latest economic data released this morning, prices of U.S. goods at the wholesale level were unchanged in August as another decline in fuel costs offset an increase in food. The more closely followed core producer price index edged up 0.1% last month to mark the ninth straight increase, but just below what economists were expecting for August.

Also reported, U.S. retail and food services sales in August reached $389.5 billion, with virtually no growth from the prior month as consumers spent more at gas stations and grocery stores, but less at motor vehicles and parts dealers, according to Commerce Department data. Excluding the volatile auto segment, sales rose 0.1%. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected an increase of 0.3% for the overall number, as well as for the data excluding autos.

Gold for December delivery finished down 0.2% to $1,826.50 an ounce.

Light, sweet crude oil for October delivery finished down 1.4% to $88.91 a barrel. In other energy futures, heating oil was up 0.35% to $2.93 a gallon while natural gas was up 1.56% to $4.04 per million British thermal units.

The federal Energy Information Administration reported that crude supplies fell 6.7 million barrels, or 1.9%, to 346.4 million barrels compared with the week before. Inventories were 3.1% lower than last year. Analysts were looking for inventories to fall by 2.9 million barrels, according to Platts survey.

Gasoline inventories, however, gained 1.9 million barrels, or 0.9%, to 210.8 million barrels, while analysts had expected a 400,000-barrel decline. Distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel also rose by 1.7 million barrels; analysts were only looking for a 1-million-barrel gain.

In company news:

ADRs of BP (BP) firmed as traders reacted to a report on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. A federal inquiry into the Deepwater Horizon disaster notes that blame for the incident is to be shared, and the lead cause of the event was the cement, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Halliburton (HAL) was in charge of the cementing process, the report said.

Shares of IAC/InterActive Corp. (IACI) were higher as the company said its Match.com online dating unit purchased a 20% stake in China-based online matchmaking service Zhenai Inc. for an undisclosed sum.

Shares of Dollar Thrifty (DTG) fell after reports that Avis (CAR) is dropping its year-long bid to acquire the company in light of current market conditions, leaving Hertz (HTZ) as the sole bidder.

Shares of Intel Corp. (INTC) gained after the company unveiled its first products coming from the acquisition of security technology company McAfee, noted MarketWatch in a report. Intel unveiled DeepSafe, which combines security features on Intel chips with McAfee software for what is known as a middleware product because it resides between system data and the user interface.

Capital One Financial (COF) and LML Payment Systems (LMLP) shares are higher after they signed a settlement and license agreement to end a patent infringement suit that LMLP filed against COF in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The suit alleged that COF infringed LMLP's U.S. Patent No. RE40,220, or patents for electronic check conversion transactions. As part of the agreement, COF paid $2.9 million to LMLP.