Dow leaps 250 as January blues fade

Adam Shell, USA TODAY2:49 p.m. EST February 3, 2015

USA TODAY stock guru Matt Krantz on some of the S&P 500's most attractive stocks.




(Photo: Richard Drew, AP)


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The January blues on Wall Street have given way to green arrows and gains in February for a second straight session as Wall Street reacts to firming oil prices, less gloomy news related to Greece and another global central bank cutting interest rates.
As of 2:48 p.m. ET Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 252points, or 1.5%. The S&P 500 is 1% higher and the Nasdaq composite is climbing 0.6%.
Oil on the U.S. market surged as much as 9% to blow past the $50 a barrel level. Prices settled a bit to around $53.
Stocks rallied sharply Monday as the Dow jumped almost 200 points to open February on a positive note after a dismal start to the new year in January. The weakness in the first month of the year had spooked Wall Street, as history says a down January often suggests a rocky road for stocks for the entire year.
"Central bank easing, European political progress, and a temporary halt to the collapse in crude is all constructive for U.S. risk assets," Paul Hickey, co-founder of Bespoke Investment Group told clients in an early-morning research note.
Stocks got a boost as two major headwinds -- plunging oil prices and fears of a Greek exit from the eurozone -- lessened amid upbeat news on both fronts.
Car sales continue to hum, as well. Ford Motor sales jumped 15.3%, General Motors gained 18.3% and Chrysler Group sales were up 14% from a year earlier.
Hopes for a deal between Greece and its European creditors got a boost after the country's new government backed away from demands to write off a chunk of its bailout loans, a prospect that had horrified creditors and investors.
Greek stocks led a European market rally Tuesday after the finance minister said the new radical left government was willing to accept alternative strategies to making his country's debt load more bearable. The Athens stock exchange was up 8.9% in midday trading and Greek bond yields eased, a sign investors are less worried about default. The Euro Stoxx index of eurozone stocks gained nearly 1%.
U.S.-based oil prices rallied for a third straight day, raising hopes that the selloff that trimmed more than 50% off a barrel of crude may have finally played out and that a bottom is in. West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.50, or more than 3%, to $51 per barrel in morning trade. Analysts cite comments from oil executives that suggest oil prices are unlikely to fall below recent lows and decisions by U.S. oil producers to cut rig counts and capital spending as reasons for oil's rebound.
Big gains from energy stocks, such as Exxon-Mobil (XOM), which is up 2.8% and Chevron (CVX), up 2.8%, is pacing the Dow and giving the broader market a lift.
Australia's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time since August 2013 to a record low of 2.25% Tuesday in a bid to jolt an economy weighed down by falling commodity prices.
The news shook the Australian dollar which dropped 1.8 % to 76.5 cents. The stock market was boosted, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 1.5%.
Oil giant BP reported a loss of $4.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, as oil prices plunged.
The net income figure includes a $5 billion writedown on the value of BP's inventories, after the price of Brent crude, the benchmark for North Sea oil, dropped almost 50% last year.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index dropped 1% to close at 17,335.85 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.3%. The Shanghai Composite gained 2%.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...sday/22789685/