Stocks gain strongly on global economic data

U.S. stocks moved solidly higher Tuesday, helped by improving economic data from Japan and Europe as well as hopes that the European Central Bank will expand its stimulus program. However, trading remained quiet ahead of the release later this week of the U.S. government’s monthly jobs survey.

Banks and industrial companies led the gains, helped by the prospect of higher interest rates and growth in manufacturing.

At the close on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 164.4 points, about 1 percent, at 17,888.4. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 22.2 points, about 1.1 percent, to 2,102.6, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 47.6 points, about 1 percent, to 5,156.3.

ENERGY: As the markets closed, the price of benchmark U.S. crude was up 14 cents at $41.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

JAPAN DATA: An index measuring factory report in Japan rose to 52.6 in November, the highest reading in 20 months and up from 52.4 in October. The index is based on a 100-point scale, with the 50-point mark separating expansion from contraction. Japanese shares jumped 1.3 percent on the news.

EUROPEAN JOBS: The unemployment rate in the 19 countries that use the euro edged down to 10.7 percent in October, a near four-year low. The drop shows the labor market is improving gradually, though the figures are not expected to keep the European Central Bank from offering more monetary stimulus on Thursday. ECB head Mario Draghi has signaled the bank could expand its bond-buying program or cut interest rates.