Stocks rise in early trading after European leaders agree to Greece aid package

Stocks rise early after Greece gets aid package

NEW YORK — Stocks are rising in early trading after European leaders agreed to a bailout program for debt-burdened Greece.

A slightly worse-than-expected revision to the nation’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product is having little effect on trading. The report confirms that the economy grew rapidly during the last three months of the year because of government stimulus measures and companies replenishing their inventories.

U.S. investors on Friday are welcoming a joint European Union and International Monetary Fund aid program that will help Greece and other European nations facing rising debt.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 28.42, or 0.3 percent, at 10,869.63. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 3.44, or 0.3 percent, at 1,169.17, while the Nasdaq composite index is up 9.97, or 0.4 percent, at 2,407.38.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock futures rose Friday after European leaders agreed to a bailout program for debt-burdened Greece.

A slightly worse-than-expected revision to the nation’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product had little effect on trading. However, the report confirmed that the economy grew rapidly during the last three months of the year because of government stimulus measures and companies replenishing their inventories.

U.S. investors welcomed a joint European Union and International Monetary Fund aid program that will help Greece and other European nations facing rising debt. Stocks pulled back from morning highs on Thursday as concern grew that meetings between European leaders would not result in a rescue program.

The deal reached late Thursday will not make money immediately available to Greece, but instead act more as a safety net. Greece or other members of the 16-nation eurozone will be able to receive money if they cannot raise it on their own.

Heavy debt loads in Greece and other European countries had been one of the few drags on an otherwise rising stock market in recent months. Investors have been concerned that mounting debt in places like Greece, Portugal and Spain would spread and upend a nascent global economic recovery.

The reassurance that Greece will get aid, if necessary, helped the euro rise against the dollar, bouncing off 10-month lows seen earlier this week.

The weaker dollar pushes demand for commodities, which are priced in dollars, higher. That in turn should boost U.S. energy and material stocks. Gold and oil both rose.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 9, or 0.1 percent, to 10,800. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 1.60, or 0.1 percent, to 1,164.30, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 8.00, or 0.4 percent, to 1,957.50.

Investors appear to be brushing off a final update to GDP that showed the U.S. economy grew at a 5.6 percent pace in the fourth quarter. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, forecast the growth rate would remain unchanged from a previous estimate of 5.9 percent.

The rapid pace of growth has likely slowed in the first quarter as a surge in manufacturing and government-supported programs eased. At the same time, consumer spending has not ramped up fast enough to offset the slowdowns elsewhere.

The strength of the consumer remains a key factor in how strong a recovery will be throughout the rest of the year. High unemployment has kept consumers wary, which has been reflected in recent months in consumer confidence surveys.

Economists predict the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for March likely inched higher to 73 from a previous estimate of 72.5.

Stocks have been grinding higher in recent weeks as new economic reports show signs of improvement in the economy, although that growth remains slow. The Dow has risen in 16 of the past 20 trading sessions.

Meanwhile, bond prices continued to retreat. Weak demand at the government’s latest auctions for Treasury notes has sent prices tumbling and interest rates sharply higher over the past four days.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.90 percent from 3.89 percent late Thursday. The 10-year note is often used as a benchmark for interest rates on consumer loans.

Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3 percent, Germany’s DAX index dropped 0.2 percent, and France’s CAC-40 fell 0.3 percent. Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 1.6 percent.