Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP are leading technology companies higher, and banks are also rising as U. S. indexes climb early Friday. Blue Buffalo Pet Products jumped after General Mills agreed to buy the pet food maker. Bond yields continued to recede from their four-year high.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP are leading technology companies higher, and banks are also rising as U. S. indexes climb in early trading Friday. Blue Buffalo Pet Products jumped after General Mills agreed to buy the pet food maker. Bond yields continued to recede from the four-year highs they reached earlier this week.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 14 points, or 0.5%, to 2,718 as of 10:07 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average ticked up 126 points, or 0.5%, to 25,089. The Nasdaq composite rose 41 points, or 0.6%, to 7,251. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks rose 8 points, or 0.5%, to 1,538.
TECH EARNS: Hewlett Packard Enterprise surged 9.7% to $18.01 after it had a strong fiscal first quarter and raised its estimates for the rest of the year. The data center hardware company also said it will increase its quarterly dividend.
Shares of its former corporate sibling, printer and PC maker HP, also rose, climbing 7.3% to $22.95 after its first-quarter earnings and revenue surpassed analyst expectations. HP’s forecasts for the rest of the year also were better than excepted.
Elsewhere in the technology industry, Microsoft rose 1.2% to $92.93, and Intel advanced 2.6% to $46.98.
A NEW AISLE: General Mills agreed to buy pet food maker Blue Buffalo in its first foray into pet food. The companies said General Mills will pay $40 a share, or $8 billion, and Blue Buffalo shares climbed 16.9% to $39.88 following the announcement. The company had about $1.3 billion in net sales last year. General Mills said the company is part of the steadily growing market for pet food. The Cheerios maker and many of its competitors have struggled as Americans cut back on purchases of processed foods. On Friday, General Mills stock fell 3.1% to $53.24.
BANK ON IT: Banks and other financial firms rose. Investment firm BlackRock gained rose 1% to $545.10. CME Group, the parent company of the Chicago Board of Trade and other exchanges, advanced 1.6% to $163.12.
Royal Bank of Scotland fell 3.1% to $7.69 after it reported its first annual profit in a decade but warned that 2018’s earnings could be weighed down by a settlement with U. S. authorities. RBS is still majority-owned by U. K. taxpayers, and it has struggled to recover from the deep losses incurred during the financial crisis.
DINING OUT: Craft beer and pizza chain BJ’s Restaurants climbed 9% to $42.20 after a strong quarter. Mediterranean eatery Zoe’s Kitchen slid 3.2% to $13.81.
BONDS: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.88% from 2.92%.
ENERGY: Benchmark U. S. crude ticked up 8 cents to $62.85 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 10 cents to $66.49 a barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 106.77 yen from 106.64 yen. The euro weakened to $1.2302 from $1.2329.
OVERSEAS: Germany’s DAX index rose 0.2%, and France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.1%. London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.2%. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.7%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1%, and Seoul’s Kospi rose 1.5%.
