Investing.com -- U.S. stocks closed broadly higher on Tuesday, as crude futures bounced from multi-year lows in a brief respite from a cascading downward spiral that has sent oil price plunging in recent weeks.
U.S. crude futures rallied by nearly 1% in Tuesday's session to close above $36 a barrel, rebounding from six year lows in the previous trading day. Investors continued to react to last week's repeal of a 40-year ban on U.S. crude exports that has erased the premium on brent crude against its American counterpart. At Tuesday's close of trading, the price of WTI crude settled two cents higher than the international benchmark, marking the first time U.S. crude futures have closed above brent since August, 2010. Dragged down by a massive glut of oversupply on global markets, dwindling crude prices have contributed to a 25% decline in major energy stocks this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 165.65 or 0.96% to 17,417.27, while the NASDAQ Composite index added 32.19 or 0.65% to 5,001.11, extending gains from Monday's session. The S&P 500 Composite index, meanwhile, gained 17.82 or 0.88% to 2,038.97, as all 10 sectors closed in the green. Stocks in the Basic Materials, Industrials and Energy industries led, each gaining more than 1%. Basic Materials stocks have slumped by more than 10% on the year.
Volatility remained high as the Dow posted its eighth consecutive 100 point move and 14th in the last 16 sessions. The major indices are on pace for their most volatile month of December in recent memory.
The top performer on the Dow was Caterpillar Inc (N:CAT), which gained 3.17 or 4.86% to 68.41. Caterpillar (N:CAT) shares rebounded on Tuesday, days after the world's largest provider of construction equipment lost a $73.6 million verdict for misappropriating trade secrets from a British manufacturer. The worst performer was Apple Inc (O:AAPL), which fell 0.10 or 0.09% to 107.23. In a CBS News' 60 Minutes segment aired over the weekend, Apple CEO Tim Cook defended his company's strategy for sending thousands of jobs overseas to China, while describing the current U.S. tax code as backwards and antiquated.
Shares in Nike Inc (N:NKE) gained more than 1% ahead of the release of its second quarter earnings after the bell. The multinational athletic apparel giant is in the midst of a banner year, where its shares have surged approximately 35% to fresh all-time record highs. Analysts expect Nike (N:NKE) to report earnings per share of 0.86, a spike of 13.1% on a yearly basis, as well as revenue growth of nearly 6% to $7.81 billion.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Whole Foods Market Inc (O:WFM), which jumped 1.81 or 5.49% to 34.79, after the natural foods grocer launched a crisis response team to handle a string of public relations miscues over the last year. The worst performer was data storage company NetApp Inc (O:NTAP), which fell 1.31 or 4.75% to 26.29 in the wake of its acquisition of SolidFire for $870 million in cash.
The top performer on the S&P 500 was Ensco, which added 0.90 or 6.25% to 15.30. Shares in the world's second-largest offshore drilling company are still down nearly 50% over the last 12 months. The worst performer was Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (N:CMG), which plunged 26.60 or 5.10% to 495.41, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) linked a second case of E. Coli bacteria to the beleaguered Mexican chain restaurant. The strain differs from one in a separate case, which affected more than 50 Chipotle customers in multiple U.S. states earlier last month.
On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones by a 2,336 to 737 margin.