Easing concerns about Greece’s debt problems and a handful of corporate takeovers boosted the stock market.
The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 25 points Monday to move back above 11,000 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index neared 1,200.
The loan agreement for Greece allowed U.S. investors to turn their focus to a busy week of economic and corporate earnings reports. Dow component Alcoa Inc. is scheduled to report earnings after the market closes.
European leaders agreed over the weekend to make loans available to Greece to help the country ease its public debt burden. The 16 countries that use the euro agreed to provide $40.5 billion in loans to Greece if needed. The International Monetary Fund could contribute another $13.5 billion.
The loans would carry interest rates below what private lenders had been demanding in recent days to hold Greek debt. Traders had been worried Greece would default on its loans.
The details helped to calm worries that have been one of the few drags on stocks so far this year. There has been concerns in recent months that mounting debt in Greece and other European nations like Spain and Portugal would stunt an economic recovery in Europe and undermine Europe’s shared currency, the euro.
“This is clearly a positive development that the EU is identifying and dealing with what has really been it’s first real challenge,” said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist for RidgeWorth Investments.
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