U.S. stocks climbed steadily on Tuesday, recovering the previous two sessions’ losses as all sectors except utilities in the S&P 500 index advanced.
The main indices rose despite an earlier slip in oil prices, as investors welcomed strong monthly auto sales, and as a key report from the Institute for Supply Management showed that American manufacturers shrank their business at a slower pace in February.
The S&P 500 SPX, +2.00% advanced 32 points, or 1.7% to 1,964, led by gains in the technology and financials sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.95% gained 238 points, or 1.5%, to 16,755, while the Nasdaq Composite COMP, +2.38% rose 88 points, or 1.9%, to 4,646.
“The ISM report showed that manufacturing is getting worse at a slower rate, it’s still contracting. But the fact that it’s not deteriorating rapidly is reassuring to investors,” said Mike Antonelli, equity sales trader at R.W Baird & Co.
Antonelli thinks we are in a middle of a cyclical bear market but that the economy is not heading into a recession, pointing out strong car sales.
“The market is slowly churning, as investors rotate from one sector to another. When we see that transports banks rebound decisively, and defensive sectors stop seeing continued flows, that will mean the market is on the way higher,” he said.
February was a split month for stocks. It was the first monthly gain for the Dow industrials since November, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each posted three straight monthly falls for the first time since 2011.
Crude futures CLJ6, +2.04% rebounded from earlier losses and was last up 1% at $34.07 a barrel, while the U.S. dollar USD/JPY, +1.21% marched higher against the yen as stocks rose in Asia and Europe.
Fed’s Dudley and data
Investors will likely chew over a speech in China late Monday from New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley. The Fed official said he remains cautious about raising interest rates in the near term, as tighter financial conditions and weaker oil prices could trigger a slowdown in economic growth as well as weaker inflation.
Stocks to watch
Shares of Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co. F, +4.32% rallied 4% after sales in February shot up 20% to 216,045 vehicles, the best February retail sales in 11 years.
Edmunds and TrueCar, which track monthly sales data, are predicting February annualized selling rate will hit or exceed 17.5 million, the best February in 15 years.
Honeywell International Inc (NYSE:HON), +3.78% shares climbed 3% after ending merger pursuit of United Technologies (NYSE:UTX).
Shares of Anadarko Petroleum Corp (NYSE:APC), +4.87% rose 2% after the company announced it would monetize up to $3 billion of assets in 2016 and cut dividends and capital expenditures.
Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE), -3.84% dropped 3% after the owner of the New York Stock Exchange said it is considering an offer for the London Stock Exchange Group (LON:LSE), +7.17% which shot up 7.5% in London.
Kate Spade & Co. (NYSE:KATE), +9.59% rebounded from a premarket drop following a sales miss and downbeat outlook. Shares were last up 6%.
Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR), +1.64% shares rose 2% even after sales fell short of estimates.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (NYSE:VRX), -7.10% shares plunged 5% after confirming an SEC probe.
Other markets: Investors shook off data from China’s official purchasing managers index that indicated sluggishness in the world’s second-biggest economy. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +1.68% led gains across Asia, closing up 1.7% as investors got the first chance to react to the cut in the amount of money banks need to have on reserve by the People’s Bank of China late Monday.
Oil and mining stocks drove gains in Europe, with the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +1.44% up 1.5%.