Wall Street rebounded over 1 percent on Tuesday, driven by a surge in oil prices and strong quarterly results from 3M, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble. All 10 major S&P sectors ended higher, led by a 3.78-percent rise in the energy sector. Crude prices settled up 3.7 percent on hopes that Opec and non-Opec producers would tackle an unrelenting supply glut.
With oil at 12-year lows and threatening to put higher-cost producers out of business, investors have been reeling from a turbulent start to the year that has left the S&P down 7 percent from the end of 2015. "This is a schizophrenic market. Big up days, big down days. No real direction," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York. "We need some stability in oil prices for the markets to calm down from here and become less volatile."
After the bell, Apple Inc reported lower-than-expected iPhone sales for the December quarter as the company began to feel the effects of economic softness in the critical Chinese market. Its stock was flat. Laser-focused on Tuesday's rebound in crude prices, Wall Street shrugged off a 6 percent slump overnight in Chinese shares, sparked by jitters over Beijing's ability to calm domestic markets.
That left the gap between US and Chinese stock indexes at its widest since at least August. The Dow Jones industrial average ended 1.78 percent higher at 16,167.23 points and the S&P 500 gained 1.41 percent to 1,903.63. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.09 percent to 4,567.67.
While the US Federal Reserve is not expected to move on interest rates at its two-day meeting, which began on Tuesday, investors will parse the Fed's commentary to gauge how recent global turmoil affects the likelihood of future rate hikes. Johnson & Johnson was the biggest influence on the S&P, up 4.96 percent, while Procter & Gamble rose 2.55 percent. Both companies reported profits that beat estimates.
Exxon climbed 3.68 percent, while Chevron rose 3.99 percent. 3M jumped 5.24 percent, giving the biggest boost to the Dow, after better-than-expected quarterly profit. Overall profit expectations remain weak, largely because of oil. Earnings of S&P 500 companies on average are expected to fall 4.9 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. Excluding energy, earnings are expected to grow 1.1 percent.
About 7.9 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, below the 8.2 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,591 to 507. On the Nasdaq, 2,010 issues rose and 809 fell. The S&P 500 index showed three new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded eight new highs and 75 lows.
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