NEW YORK: A rally in energy companies helped push the U.S. stock market higher for a second straight day on Tuesday. Investors also worked through corporate news and prepared for key U.S. economic data later this week.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 89.39 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,918.15. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.74 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,109.79 and the Nasdaq composite rose 17.98 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5,145.13.
Oil and gas companies, one of the most battered parts of the market, saw another wave of investor interest. The energy sector of the S&P 500 rallied 2.5 percent. The advance was mostly on the back of a jump in the price of oil, which climbed 4 percent.
Drilling and exploration companies were the biggest benefactors. Pioneer Natural Resources, Diamond Offshore and Anadarko Petroleum all rose more than 5 percent. Oil conglomerates Exxon Mobil and Chevron rose 2 percent and 3 percent respectively.
Investors found some good news in the monthly sales reports from the automakers. General Motors, Ford and others reported double-digit increases in sales from a year earlier, and some automakers are on pace to break annual sales records.
