Wall St. climbs with energy rebound, Pfizer deal

The rally that began yesterday but was so abruptly and severely reversed in the last half hour of trading continued in force today with the Dow gaining another big 211 points.  This mostly came from another bounce in energy.  Crude got a 4% bump and is once again over $50/barrel.  But the big news was once again from Greece with a new proposal to the ECB to defer debt payments until May in exchange for a firm vow that the besieged nation will avoid default at all costs and once and for all put to rest the issue of the "Grexit."  No word yet as to whether the ECB is on board with this but investors took it so positively that it's considered already a done deal and the market is feeling more relaxed about any potential short-term crisis.  Other factors boosting the index was Pfizer's $15 billion acquisition of Hospira and a weekly jobless claims report that was less than forecast, this ahead of tomorrow's January employment report.  Volume was healthy at 6.9 billion shares.

Wall St. climbs with energy rebound, Pfizer deal

BY CAROLINE VALETKEVITCH

DJ:    17,884.88  +211.86      NAS:      4,765.10  +48.39       S&P:      2,062.52  +21.01

NEW YORK Thu Feb 5, 2015 6:28pm EST

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Thursday as energy shares bounced with oil prices, while news Pfizer would buy Hospira in a massive deal further boosted the market.

The S&P energy index .SPNY jumped 1.5 percent as oil prices rebounded sharply from the previous session. U.S. crude CLc1 rose 4.2 percent to settle at $50.48 following increased violence in producer Libya and an expected boost in oil demand from China's central bank easing.

Some euro zone concerns eased as well. Greece proposed a bridging program until the end of May to allow time for debt talks, vowing to do everything in its power to avoid default. On Wednesday, the European Central Bank abruptly said it would stop accepting Greek bonds in return for funds.

"The market's trying to get its hands around what's going on in Greece. There was an expectation it might blow up. Now, certainly in the short term, it looks like we won't be seeing any fireworks," said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial in Waltham, Mass.

The day's move put the S&P 500 back into positive territory for the year after days of volatile price action, largely driven by moves in oil.

Pfizer (PFE.N) was among the biggest boosts to the S&P 500 after it said it would buy Hospira Inc (HSP.N) for about $15 billion to boost its portfolio of generic injectable drugs and copies of biotech medicines. Hospira shares rocketed 35.2 percent to $87.64 as the S&P500's biggest percentage gainer. Pfizer gained 2.9 percent $32.99.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 211.86 points, or 1.2 percent, to 17,884.88, theS&P 500 .SPX gained 21.01 points, or 1.03 percent, to 2,062.52 and the Nasdaq Composite.IXIC added 48.39 points, or 1.03 percent, to 4,765.10.

Adding to the upbeat tone, weekly jobless claims rose less than expected last week. The report comes on the heels of a private payrolls report that fell short of expectations on Wednesday and ahead of a monthly employment report on Friday.

Other data showed the U.S. trade deficit in December widened to its highest since 2012, which could damp down the fourth-quarter growth estimate, and nonfarm productivity fell more than expected in the fourth quarter.

Michael Kors (KORS.N) shares fell 2.3 percent to $69.77 after the luxury accessories retailer posted third-quarter results and forecast a lower-than-expected profit for the current quarter.

About 6.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, below the 8.1 billion average for the last five sessions, according to BATS Global Markets.

NYSE advancing issues outnumbered declining ones 2,349 to 749, for a 3.14-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 2,028 issues rose and 718 fell, for a 2.82-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The S&P 500 was posting 43 new 52-week highs and 2 lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 90 new highs and 36 lows.