US stocks rise on earnings, oil bounce

NEW YORK (AFP) - US stocks snapped a five-day losing streak Tuesday, posting strong gains after positive earnings from UPS and a big rally in petroleum-linked stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 189.68 points (1.09 per cent) to 17,630.27.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 25.61 (1.24 per cent) at 2,093.25, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 49.43 (0.98 per cent) to 5,089.21.

Shipping company UPS powered up 5.1 per cent after reporting second-quarter net income of US$1.2 billion (S$1.6 billion), up from US$454 million in the year-ago period.

Dow member ExxonMobil jumped 4.1 per cent, while fellow oil and gas producers Apache and ConocoPhillips gained 4.4 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively, as oil prices stabilised after a dive.

"It's not particularly surprising to see the market acting a little better today as we got significantly oversold," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities.

Investors were looking ahead to a policy announcement Wednesday from the US Federal Reserve that could signal the timing of an interest rate increase later this year.

Intel rose 2.2 per cent and Micron Technology surged 9 per cent after the two chipmakers unveiled what they touted as a "breakthrough" memory chip that permits users to store and process huge amounts of data more quickly.

Amgen leaped 4.4 per cent on speculation the biotech company could be an acquisition target.

RBC Capital said a takeover of Amgen probably is not feasible until at least 2016, but predicted the company could boost its earnings outlook when it reports results later this week.

Pfizer jumped 2.9 per cent after it lifted its 2015 profit forecast following second-quarter earnings of 56 cents per share, four cents above analyst expectations.

Ford gained 1.9 per cent. The second-largest US automaker said profit soared 44 per cent in the second quarter, its best quarter in 15 years.

General Motors climbed 0.9 per cent after announcing it would spend US$5 billion to launch a new family of Chevrolet vehicles targeted for emerging markets, co-developed by Chinese partner SAIC Motor.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.25 per cent from 2.22 per cent Monday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.97 per cent from 2.94 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.