Investing.com - The S&P 500 closed higher Wednesday as energy bounced back after oil prices rebounded from a more-than-a-year low.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat, the S&P 500 rose 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.92%.
Bargain-hunting investors snapped up beaten-down FANG stocks following two days of relentless selling.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rose more than 1%.
Energy names, meanwhile, found their footing as oil prices shrugged off a mostly bearish petroleum report from Energy Information Administration to settle higher, clawing back some losses from a steep slide a day earlier.
Upbeat corporate earnings from both Gap and Foot Locker halted the rout in retailers, underpinning the rebound in the major averages.
Gap (NYSE:GPS) soared 5% after reporting third-quarter results that beat expectations on the both the top and bottom lines. Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) surged 15% after the athleticwear retailer reported third-quarter earnings that topped analysts' estimates.
On the economic front, soft durable goods orders data for October raised concerns over slowing economic growth.
The Commerce Department said core durable goods orders rose 0.1% last month. That was below consensus estimates for a 0.4% rise.
"The data is consistent with a weakening economic outlook as new orders are falling while financial conditions are tightening," BMO said in a note to clients.
In corporate news, Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) gained 10% after unveiling plans to buy PlanGrid for $875 million in a bid to build on its cloud-based construction platform.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), meanwhile, fell 3% after an appeals court ruled that the company can't block sales of generic prostrate cancer drug Zytiga while the company appeals the overturning of a Zytiga patent.
Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:
Foot Locker (NYSE:FL), Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) and Hanesbrands (NYSE:HBI) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.