Stocks Mostly Higher; Oil, Greece Eyed

U.S. Market
Stock were mostly higher this morning as oil prices rose and Greek fears eased.

Auto sales were strong in January. Chrysler (FCAU), GM (GM) and Ford (F) all saw double-digit increases in the month as the industry’s momentum continued into the New Year.

Oil prices moved higher this morning, with the price of oil moving over $50 a barrel in New York.

There were signs that negotiations over Greek debt were going better than expected as Greek leaders proposed a debt-swap plan. Greek stocks soared on the news.

At midday the Dow was up 0.8%, the S&P 500 was 0.4% higher while the Nasdaq was flat.

Stocks on the Move
The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that Staples (SPLS) and Office Depot (ODP) are considering a merger. The news comes after an activist hedge fund had pushed Staples to consider a deal. Office Depot shares surged 18% at midday while Staples shares were up nearly 10%.

BP (BP) said it had a replacement-cost loss of $969 million in the most recent quarter, down from a $1.51 billion profit in the year-ago period as low oil prices weighed on the firm. However, the results were better than expected sending shares up 2.5% at midday.

Shares of UPS (UPS) were down less than 0.5% after the firm posted downbeat results. The firm had previously warned that its fourth-quarter results would be weak, but analyst were disappointed by the firm’s fiscal 2015 estimates.

Foreign Markets
European markets were higher today. In late trading, the FTSE 100, Paris CAC and Germany’s DAX were up 1.3%, 1.1% and 0.6% respectively.

Asian shares were mixed. The Shanghai Composite rose 2.5%, the Hang Seng was up 0.3% while the Nikkei 225 was off 1.3%.