NEW YORK — Rising corporate profits and a jump in oil prices helped push the stock market to a modest gain Wednesday. Delta and Intel led the way up after turning in results that beat Wall Street’s forecasts. Oil soared to its highest price this year, driving up energy stocks.
For investors, any good news comes as a welcome surprise this earnings season, which is widely expected to be the worst in years. Analysts predict that companies in the S&P 500 will report a 3 percent drop in profits. Most of the blame lies with the slump in oil prices in the past year, which has squeezed oil and gas companies, and a strong dollar, which diminishes the value of profits earned abroad when they’re brought back home.
“So far, there’s no signal that this quarter is really a harbinger of a profit recession,” said Jeremy Zirin, head of investment strategy at UBS Wealth Management. I think that’s why the market is reacting positively today.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 10.79 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 2,106.63. Transocean, an operator of drilling rigs, soared 10 percent, the biggest gain in the index.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 75.91 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,112.61, while the Nasdaq composite added 33.73 points, or 0.7 percent, to 5,011.02.
Delta Air Lines said its quarterly profit more than tripled as passengers flew more and fuel prices plunged from a year ago.
After the market closed Tuesday, Intel, the world’s largest maker of computer chips, reported quarterly profits that beat analysts’ targets. Intel’s stock surged $1.34, or 4 percent, to $32.83.
Crude oil jumped $3.10 to settle at $56.39, hitting its highest price this year, after the Energy Department said that storage of crude rose by the smallest amount in three months. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose $1.89 to close at $60.32 in London.
