For the second straight day, stocks rose sharply with the help of rebounding oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.8%, or 305 points Monday, to close at 17,666. The S&P 500, meanwhile, jumped 29 points, or 1.4%, to 2,050 while the Nasdaq Composite rose 51 points, or 1.1%, to 4,727.
The market’s rise came as oil made a strong showing after falling for most of the past six months. Crude prices rose 7%, or $3.48, to $53.05 a barrel. Rising oil prices are, of course, good for energy companies and the businesses that cater to them. Over the past few weeks, a number of oil services firms have announced plans to cut jobs and investment.
Caterpillar’s (CAT) shares rose nearly 4%, while Exxon Mobile (XOM) and Chevron both rose around 3%. Goldman Sachs (GS) also ended the day up with a gain of 2.7%.
After the closing bell, shares of Chipotle (CMG) dipped 5.9% to $684 while shares of Walt Disney (DIS) gained 3.1% to $96.97.
The market’s gains Tuesday followed a strong performance a day earlier during which the Dow added nearly 200 points with the help of rising oil prices.
In addition to rising oil prices, investors welcomed January car sales results that beat expectations because of lower gas prices. Ford Motor (F) gained 2.5% to $15.65, General Motors (GM) rose 2.6% to $33.98 and Fiat Chrysler climbed 3.3% to $13.95.
Reuters contributed to this report.
