U.S. stocks climb for second day as oil prices rise

By Marley Jay, Associated Press

Wednesday, May 25, 2016 | 7:51 a.m.

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are continuing to climb Wednesday morning, and energy companies are leading the way as the price of oil continues to climb. A deal between Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Computer Sciences is sending both companies higher. European stocks are rising after a deal to get Greece more rescue loans.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 167 points, or 1 percent, to 17,873 as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 18 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,093. The Nasdaq composite index added 34 points, or 0.7 percent, to 4,895. Tuesday was the biggest gain for stocks in more than two months.

TECH TIE-UP: HP Enterprise said it will sell its business service unit to CSC for $8.5 billion. HP Enterprise, which was formed when Hewlett-Packard split in two last year, will focus on selling tech products to big organizations, like hardware and software for data centers. Hewlett Packard Enterprise rose $1.66, or 10.2 percent, to $17.91 and Computer Sciences surged $12.27, or 34.4 percent, to $47.92.

OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 81 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $49.43 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 95 cents, or 2 percent, to $49.56 a barrel in London. That sent energy companies higher. Chevron added $1.68, or 1.7 percent, to $101.76 and Schlumberger rose $1.62, or 2.1 percent, to $77.24.

PLANTING SEEDS: German conglomerate Bayer said it's committed to completing its acquisition of Monsanto. Monsanto rejected a $62 billion offer from Bayer but said Tuesday that it's open to talks, and its stock gained $3.13, or 2.9 percent, to $112.43. Bayer's offer valued Monsanto at $122 per share.

TAXED: TurboTax and QuickBooks maker Intuit slumped despite strong results in the fiscal third quarter. The software company also raised its projections for the year. The stock lost $4.26, or 4 percent, to $103.05.

RETAIL: A string of painful quarterly results for retailers continued Wednesday. Clothing and accessories chain Express reported disappointing results and gave weak projections for the rest of the year, and its stock fell $2.48, or 15.5 percent, to $13.62. Jewelry retailer Tiffany said customers cut spending in its latest quarter, and the strong dollar is hurting its international sales. Tiffany said it expects its profit to decline this year, and its stock slid 99 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $62.86.

BONDS AND BANKS: Bond prices continued to slip and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 1.87 percent from 1.86 percent. That sent bank stocks higher as investors anticipated they will make bigger profits from lending.

HANGING UP: Microsoft said it will cut 1,850 jobs, most of them in Finland, and take a $950 million charge in response to its rough entrance into the smartphone market. The company bought Nokia's phone division for $7.3 billion in 2014 and has already cut the value of that business and eliminated 26,000 jobs. Microsoft rose 65 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $52.24.

GREECE DEAL: Greece will get about $11.5 billion in loans after finance ministers from the eurozone approved the country's latest package of tax hikes and reforms. The release of the loans removes the risk that Greece will default on its debts in coming months. The creditors also discussed how to lighten the country's debt load.

OVERSEAS: Germany's DAX advanced 1.6 percent. France's CAC gained 1.3 percent while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.7 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.6 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 2.7 percent. South Korea's Kospi gained 1.2 percent.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 110.33 yen from 109.98 yen. The euro inched up to $1.1148 from $1.1143.