Stocks rise on energy data
The news that oil inventories had fallen stoked hopes for an improving economy.
NEW YORK - The stock market extended a streak of erratic trading yesterday, rebounding from early losses and rising moderately after a drop in oil inventories lifted hopes for an economic recovery.
News from the Energy Department that the nation's oil inventory fell more than eight million barrels in the last week sent oil prices and then stocks higher, as investors bet that the drop in stockpiles is an indication that energy demand is rising and the economy is indeed improving.
The Dow Jones industrials rose 61.22, or 0.66 percent, to 9,279.16. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 6.79, or 0.69 percent, to 996.46, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 13.32, or 0.68 percent, to 1,969.24.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 5.22, or 0.94 percent, to 561.65.
Light, sweet crude jumped $3.23 to close at $72.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In earnings news, BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. said its second-quarter profit dipped 4 percent and sales declined because of falling gasoline prices. Still, the warehouse club's results beat analysts' estimates, and it raised its full-year profit outlook. Its shares rose 67 cents, or 2.14 percent, to $31.99.
Deere & Co., the world's largest maker of farm equipment, reported a 27 percent drop in its fiscal third-quarter profit, but it also did better than Wall Street expected. Deere shares tumbled $1.31, or 2.91 percent, to $43.78.
Hewlett-Packard Co. shares slipped 13 cents to close at $43.83 after it said late Tuesday that its profit fell 19 percent in the latest quarter on weak sales. However, the computer company provided an outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter that was better than expected.
Among energy stocks, shares of Murphy Oil Corp. jumped $1.73, or 3.07 percent, to $58.05, while shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. rose 2.27 percent, adding $1.51 to close at $68.00.
The Shanghai index plunged 4.3 percent. The index has lost nearly 20 percent this month on worries about the strength of China's recovery and a possible clamp on Beijing's easy credit policy that helped to fuel the rally in Chinese stocks earlier this year.