Stocks rise as oil prices remain volatile

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks rose Tuesday, led by gains in technology and consumer-orientated stocks, as the market bounced back after two days of losses.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 25 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,054 as of 10:50 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 250 points, or 1.4 percent, to 17,899. The Nasdaq composite gained 86, or 1.9 percent, to 4,751.

OIL STAYS VOLATILE: The price of oil remained volatile. After extending its relentless drop in early trading, oil recovered most of its losses by mid-morning.

Oil fell after the energy minister for the United Arab Emirates said Tuesday there are no plans for OPEC to curb production to shore up falling crude prices. The price of oil has slumped 57 percent since last June as traders bet that the supply glut will persist.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell 13 cents to $45.92 a barrel in New York. Brent, the international standard, fell $1.48 to $47.25 in London.

THE QUOTE: Stock market volatility has picked up at the start of the year, but that shouldn’t worry investors, said Janet Dougherty, a global investment specialist in Chicago at JPMorgan private bank.

“You have to remember that, we’ve been through an extended period where there wasn’t a lot of volatility in the equity and now were just getting back to normalized levels,” said Dougherty.

Dougherty predicts that the combination of low interest rates and falling energy costs will benefit consumer-focused companies in the U.S.

FLYING HIGH: Airlines, big users of fuel, were among the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 index as oil continued to drop. Southwest Airlines, the biggest gainer in the index last year, rose $1.42, or 3.5 percent, to $41.67. Delta Airlines climbed $1.63, or 3.6 percent, to $47.69.

STIMULUS FOR EUROPE? In Europe, traders are speculating that the European Central Bank will announce more stimulus later this month to boost the region’s flagging economy.

EUROPE’S DAY: France’s CAC 40 gained 1.6 percent while Germany’s DAX rose 1.7 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares rose 0.6 percent.

CHINA’S EXPORTS REBOUND: Chinese exports grew 9.7 percent in December over a year earlier, while imports shrank 2.4 percent. The results were better than investors expected.

BONDS AND CURRENCIES: In government bond trading, prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which climbs when prices drop, rose to 1.94 percent from 1.91 percent on Monday.

The dollar gained against most major currencies. The euro fell 0.5 percent to $1.1760 and the dollar rose 0.3 percent to 118.64 Japanese yen.