Yahoo Finance US stocks rise as oil gains
US stocks rose early Tuesday as a modest rise in oil prices and solid earnings reports from Procter & Gamble and other Dow components lifted sentiment.
About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16,073.34, up 188.12 points (1.18 percent).
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 13.27 (0.71 percent) to 1,890.35, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 3.09 (0.07 percent) to 4,521.58.
Equity investors continued to monitor the oil market as a proxy for economic health. Oil prices rose 57 cents to $30.91 a barrel in opening trade in New York.
Procter & Gamble rose 2.5 percent after reporting fiscal second-quarter earnings that translated into $1.12 per share, much above the 98 cents projected by analysts.
3M, another Dow member, rose 6.2 percent after reporting fourth-quarter earnings of $1.66 per share, three cents above expectations.
Among other Dow companies, Johnson & Johnson rose 2.5 percent and DuPont added 0.5 percent following earnings reports. Apple fell 0.7 percent ahead of its earnings report, which will be released after the market closes.
Insurer AIG rose 1.5 percent as it announced plans to float nearly 20 percent of United Guaranty Corporation and a number of other streamlining moves, along with $25 billion in capital returns to shareholders. The moves follow pressure from activist investors Carl Icahn and John Paulson.
Defense giant Lockheed Martin fell 3.8 percent after projecting 2016 earnings of $11.45-$11.75 per share, well below the $12.23 expected by analysts.
FirstMerit jumped 17.2 on news it will be acquired by Huntington Bancshares for $3.4 billion in a deal that unites two banks in the midwestern state of Ohio. Huntington Bancshares fell 8.9 percent.
