New York – A late-day rebound gave stocks a moderate advance Tuesday as sharply lower oil prices and an unexpected jump in consumer confidence soothed investors’ unease over a batch of mixed earnings.
The market fluctuated through much of the session after disappointing results from UPS Inc. and 3M Co. stoked concerns about the health of corporate profits. McDonald’s Corp. and AT&T Inc. had strong earnings, but anxiety over interest rates and geopolitical tension kept investors from extending the prior session’s solid advance.
Wall Street found some support from the day’s economic news. Consumer confidence rose in July despite soaring gasoline prices, and a modest slowdown in existing-home sales last month also brightened hopes of a soft landing for the economy.
But while stocks managed to bounce back in the last hour – the Dow Jones industrials added as much as 83 points – analysts said the lack of a significant catalyst meant the move higher was not substantial and fit in with Wall Street’s recent erratic behavior.
“I think there was some degree of relief when the market was able to hold to the lows and not follow the pattern of the past couple of months: following up days by giving everything back,” said Russ Koesterich, senior portfolio manager at Barclays Global Investments.
The Dow gained 52.66, or 0.48 percent, to 11,103.71. On Monday, a flurry of acquisitions and upbeat earnings boosted the blue-chip index by 182 points.
Broader stock indicators also recovered. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 7.97, or 0.63 percent, to 1,268.88, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 12.06, or 0.58 percent, to 2,073.90.
Advancing issues led decliners by more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where preliminary consolidated volume of 2.66 billion shares topped the 2.41 billion shares that changed hands Monday.
