NEW YORK: Wall Street rallied for the third straight session, led by sharp gains in energy stocks as a rebound in oil prices boosted sentiment heading into the Christmas holiday. ON VACATION: Wednesday is the last full day of trading for US and European markets, with most markets closing early on Thursday for Christmas Eve.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 121 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 17,537 as of 10:20 a.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 12 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,051. The S&P 500 is back to breakeven for the year.
“The gains in oil and materials are certainly helping the market dig itself out of the hole”, said Peter Jankovskis, co- chief investment officer of OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Ill.
Oil prices surged on Wednesday after an unexpected fall in USA inventories, with both the U.S. oil and Brent crude jumping almost 4 percent. Inpex is gaining more than 3 percent and JX Holdings is advancing more than 2 percent following the jump in crude oil prices.
Oil and gas prices rose sharply, easily beating out other sectors in the market. Sumitomo Corp’s shares are up 2.6 percent and KDDI Corp.is down 0.5 percent. Overall, the S&P 500 energy sector is up more than 3 per cent just this week. JUST DO IT: Nike fell $3.48, or 2.6 percent, to $128.25, after the company reported revenue that fell short of analysts’ forecasts. Nike is still the biggest victor in the Dow average this year with a gain of 34 percent.
