Tech, Banks Power Stocks Rebound       03/26 16:01

   Stocks finished broadly higher on Wall Street Tuesday, erasing the market's 
modest losses from a day earlier.

   (AP) -- Stocks finished broadly higher on Wall Street Tuesday, erasing the 
market's modest losses from a day earlier.

   Financial, technology and health care stocks accounted for much of the 
rally. Banks got a boost from rising bond yields, which let them charge higher 
rates on loans.

   Energy companies led the S&P 500 higher as the price of U.S. crude oil moved 
briefly above $60 a barrel. Oil hasn't closed above $60 a barrel since November.

   Homebuilders slumped on new data showing the pace of newly started 
residential construction projects fell sharply last month.

   Even after losing some of its early strength, the broad upward turn in 
stocks marked a reversal for the market, which started the week on a downbeat 
note after racking up losses last week as investors' jitters over a global 
economic slowdown intensified. That led to a troubling drop in long-term bond 
yields.

   On Tuesday the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note edged up to 2.42 
percent from 2.41 percent late Monday. However, it's still below the yield on 
the three-month Treasury bill, which many see as a warning sign of a possible 
recession.

   "A lot of today's move has to do with the change in direction in the yield 
curve," said Lindsey Bell, investment strategist at CFRA. "It just goes to show 
that we're kind of in a period of indecisiveness in the market, where the 
market is grappling with what is obviously slowing growth around the globe and 
a little bit of uncertainty here in the U.S. about what growth is going to look 
like once we get past the seasonally weak first quarter."

   The S&P 500 index gained 20.10 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,818.46. The Dow 
Jones Industrial Average rose 140.90 points, or 0.6 percent, to 25,657.73. It 
briefly climbed 279 points.

   The Nasdaq composite added 53.98 points, or 0.7 percent, to 7,691.52. The 
Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks picked up 15.30 points, or 1 
percent, to 1,528.17.

   Major European indexes finished higher, rebounding from a day earlier. 


   Even with last week's stumble, U.S. stocks remain on track to finish the 
quarter with solid gains at the end of this week. The benchmark S&P 500 index 
is up more than 12 percent so far in 2019, an unusually strong start to a year.

   Still, uncertainty remains over how the U.S. and China will resolve their 
costly trade dispute and how a slowing global economy will affect corporate 
profits as companies begin to report results for the first quarter next month.

   "We have a lack of catalysts right now before we get into earnings season," 
said Bell. "The market is going to be a little bit erratic until we get clarity 
on the direction of earnings, the direction of the trade deal, the direction of 
Brexit, all these major uncertainties out there."

   While concerns about the global economy have held back stocks recently, 
traders mostly shrugged off two disappointing bellwether reports on the U.S. 
economy Tuesday.

   The Conference Board, a business research group, said its consumer 
confidence index fell to 124.1 in March from 131.4 in February. And the 
Commerce Department said the number of homes under construction fell 8.7 
percent last month as ground breakings for single-family houses declined to 
their lowest level in nearly two years.

   The housing starts data weighed on most homebuilder stocks. Beazer Homes USA 
slid 1.1 percent.

   Bed Bath & Beyond soared 22 percent in very heavy trading after The Wall 
Street Journal reported that the troubled retailer is being targeted by 
activist investors.

   Qualcomm climbed 2.4 percent after a U.S. trade judge recommended banning 
some iPhones from being imported into the U.S. The judge concluded that Apple's 
best-selling device infringed on technology owned by the mobile chipmaker. 
Apple fell 1 percent.

   Carnival slumped 8.7 percent after the cruise line operator's latest 
quarterly results fell short of Wall Street's forecasts. The company also 
issued a weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings outlook.

   Benchmark U.S. crude climbed 1.9 percent to settle at $59.94 a barrel. Brent 
crude, used to price international oils, added 0.3 percent to close at $67.97 a 
barrel.

   The pickup in oil prices helped boost energy stocks. Anadarko Petroleum rose 
3.1 percent.

   Wholesale gasoline picked up 0.9 percent to $1.96 a gallon, heating oil 
gained 0.5 percent to $1.99 a gallon and natural gas fell 0.5 percent to $2.74 
per 1,000 cubic feet.

   Gold lost 0.6 percent to $1,315 an ounce, silver dropped 0.9 percent to 
$15.43 an ounce and copper slipped 0.1 percent to $2.85 a pound.

   The dollar strengthened to 110.52 yen from 110.06 Japanese yen on Monday. 
The euro fell to $1.1278 from $1.1312. 


(BE)