Stocks surge to second-biggest gain of the year
NEW YORK - The wild ride for investors continued on Tuesday.
Stocks surged to their second-biggest gain of the year, more than wiping out a big loss from Friday and leaving the Dow Jones industrial average down just slightly for the month.
The market was rebounding from a steep sell-off last week, when a mixed jobs report left investors uncertain about the outlook for interest rates.
Big moves have become commonplace in financial markets in recent weeks as investors have worried about the health of the Chinese economy and the outlook for U.S. interest rates. Many slumps have been followed by strong rebounds.
Some strategists believe a sell-off in stocks that began in the middle of August is over, while others say that there may still be more selling.
"There is some value out there, but I'm not fully convinced that the selling pressure is out of the picture," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 48.19 points, or 2.5 percent, to 1,969.41. The Dow rose 390.30 points, or 2.4 percent, to 16,492.68. The Nasdaq composite climbed 128.01 points, or 2.7 percent, to 4,811.93 points.
Trading was closed in the U.S. on Monday in observance of the Labor Day holiday.
Traders were encouraged by a rebound in China's stock market despite some disappointing news on its economy.
The country's exports shrank 5.5 percent last month compared with a year earlier, while imports tumbled 13.8 percent. August's figures were hit by disruption from a massive explosion at the busy Tianjin port and government-enforced factory shutdowns in the run-up to a huge military parade in Beijing last week. China's trade has been weak for months, reflecting muted global demand and a domestic slowdown.
Despite the disappointing reports, China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.9 percent in a rebound from losses earlier in the day. A big slump in the Chinese markets this year has unsettled investors.
Investors also got some encouraging news on mergers.
General Electric surged on reports that the European Union is set to approve its $17 billion acquisition of Alstom SA's power business. The deal was announced in June last year. GE climbed 96 cents, or 4 percent, to $24.96.
Teco Energy soared after agreeing to be acquired by the Canadian energy and services company Emera for about $6.5 billion. Teco's stock rose $5.27, or 25 percent, to $26.34.
Meredith jumped $4.53, or 9.9 percent, to $50.47 after agreeing to be acquired by rival media company Media General.
The deal news was a good sign for investors because it signaled that executives and investors still believe that stock prices are at reasonable levels, said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist for Prudential Financial.
"We expect to see more deals, and the more deals that are announced the more helpful it will be," said Krosby.
In Europe, Germany's DAX advanced 1.6 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 1.2 percent and the CAC 40 in France gained 1.1 percent.
U.S. government bond prices fell, pushing the yield on the 10-year benchmark Treasury note up to 2.18 percent from 2.13 percent on Friday. The euro rose to $1.1182 from $1.1168. The dollar rose to 119.76 from 119.39 yen.
In metals trading, gold was little changed at $1,121 an ounce. Silver rose 21 cents to $14.75 an ounce and copper rose 12 cents to $2.43 per pound.
The price of oil slipped slightly Tuesday as traders weighed continuing supply concerns against the possibility of rising demand in the U.S. US. crude fell 11 cents to close at $45.94 a barrel in New York. Brent Crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose $1.89 to close at $49.52 in London, reversing Monday's steep decline.
In other futures trading on the NYMEX:
- Wholesale gasoline fell 1.6 cents to close at $1.402 a gallon.
- Heating oil fell 0.2 cent to close at $1.594 a gallon.
- Natural gas rose 5.5 cents to close at $2.710 per 1,000 cubic feet.