US stocks climb as oil rebounds; Precision Castparts jumps

New York (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Monday as energy company shares followed oil prices higher. The market also got a lift from the latest corporate deal news. Precision Castparts led industrial stocks higher after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy the maker of aircraft components.

Keeping score: The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 25 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,103 as or 1:41 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 233 points, or 1.4 percent, to 17,607. The Nasdaq composite climbed 60 points, or 1.2 percent, to 5,103.

Buffett bid: Precision Castparts jumped $37.24, or 19 percent, to $231.10 after Berkshire Hathaway said it was buying the company for about $32.4 billion. Berkshire will pay $235 per share in cash for Precision Castparts' outstanding stock. The deal is valued at about $37.2 billion, including debt.

Re-energized: Energy stocks rebounded on Monday as oil rose following more heavy losses last week. The energy sector has slumped 16 percent in the last three months as oil has dropped back toward its low of the year.

The quote: About 90 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported their second-quarter results, and average earnings for companies in the index are flat for the period. However, that's masking a big slump in energy company earnings. If the energy sector is excluded, profits rose 7.7 percent, according to S&P Capital IQ data.

"Once you start digging into the numbers the only sector that is really messing things up is energy," said Brad McMillan, Chief Investment Officer for Commonwealth Financial Network. "Everything else is doing pretty well."

Losing streak: The Dow is rebounding from a seven-day losing streak, the longest run of losses for the index in four years. A slump in oil prices and some mixed earnings reports have weighed on the 30-member index. Investors are also speculating that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates next month.

Twitter endorsement: Twitter got a lift after the company signed a two-year content and advertising deal with the National Football League. Also, interim CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey increased his stake in the embattled social media company. Twitter, which has slumped this year as its growth has disappointed investors, jumped $2, or 7.4 percent, to $29.04.

Europe's day: France's CAC 40 was up 0.6 percent and Germany's DAX rose 0.8 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.1 percent.

China trade: China's trade figures shrank by unexpectedly wide margins in July, showing the world's second-largest economy faces weak demand both at home and abroad. Exports contracted by 8.3 percent over the same month a year earlier, and imports fell 8.1 percent. For the year to date, exports are off 14.6 percent and imports are down 0.8 percent. That increases pressure on Beijing to stimulate domestic growth and to avert politically sensitive job losses in export industries.

Energy: Benchmark U.S. crude was up 90 cents to $44.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 7 percent last week.

Bonds and currencies: U.S. government bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note climbed to 2.24 percent from 2.17 percent on Friday. The dollar rose to 124.56 yen from 124.22 yen on Friday. The euro was little changed at $1.0975.

By Steve Rothwell, AP Business Writer. Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Gayly – August 10, 2015 @ 1:10pm.