U.S. stocks gain as oil prices rise
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, May 16, 2016. Credit: Getty Images / Spencer Platt
A jump in oil prices and some deal news helped send stocks up broadly Monday, breaking a three-day losing streak.
Investors bought from the start of trading, pushing oil drillers and other energy stocks up sharply. A bullish oil report from Goldman Sachs helped send benchmark U.S. crude up 3.3 percent to its highest close in six months. All 10 sectors of the Standard and Poor’s 500 index rose.
Major indexes were also boosted by news that billionaire investor Warren Buffett had invested in Apple, triggering a 3.7 percent jump in that stock. Apple is the most heavily weighted member of the S&P 500 and so a rise in its stock has an outsize impact on the index.
The S&P 500 rose 0.98 percent to 2,066.66. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 175.39 points to 17,710.71. The Nasdaq composite index gained 1.22 percent, closing at 4,775.46.
The report from Goldman argued that the glut in oil supplies has turned into a “deficit,” and so prices could continue to rise. The sunny forecast, plus oil production troubles in Nigeria, pushed U.S. crude up $1.51 to $47.72 a barrel.
When oil prices climb, investors think the “earnings drought is at an end,” said Tim Courtney, chief investment officer of Exencial Wealth Advisors. “Whatever happens to energy drives all the markets.” — AP
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