Stocks regain some ground; energy companies rise with oil prices

Energy companies led U.S. stocks to modest gains Wednesday as the market recouped some of its hefty losses from the day before.

Big retailers and healthcare companies also helped lift the market, which was coming off its worst day in almost three weeks. Utilities and phone companies were the biggest laggards. Some travel booking companies and airlines also fell.

“It’s a little bit of a rebound from the sort of dramatic day yesterday after everybody got back from the long holiday weekend at the end of the summer and refocused on the market,” said Lindsey Bell, investment strategist at CFRA Research. “We’ve seen that through the past year — any time we’ve had some sort of dip, it’s a buying opportunity for investors.”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 7.69 points, or 0.3%, to 2,465.54. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 54.33 points, or 0.3%, to 21,807.64. The Nasdaq composite rose 17.74 points, or 0.3%, to 6,393.31. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks ticked up 2 points, or 0.2%, to 1,402.20.

The stock indexes are on pace to end the week lower, but they are holding on to gains for the year. The S&P 500 and Dow are both up just over 10% this year so far. The Nasdaq is up 18.8%, and the Russell 2000 has gained 3.3%.

The market veered up from the start of regular trading Wednesday and held its course through much of the day. News that President Trump has agreed to a plan to fund the government and increase the nation’s debt limit for three months helped lift the market.

“It reassured the market that Washington is on board with stabilizing its financial responsibilities,” Bell said.

Tuesday’s market jitters over the heated rhetoric between the U.S. and North Korea appeared to ease somewhat Wednesday, even as investors monitored Hurricane Irma. The mammoth storm, which made its first landfall in the islands of the northeast Caribbean early Wednesday, seemed almost certain to hit the United States by early next week.

A day after soaring more than 20%, the VIX, a measure of how much volatility investors expect in stocks, fell nearly 5% on Wednesday.

Bond yields, which fell sharply Tuesday, rebounded modestly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.10% from 2.06%.

Gold, which climbed Tuesday to the highest level in more than a year, fell $5.50 to $1,339 an ounce.

Rising oil prices helped boost energy stocks. Helmerich & Payne climbed 5.9% to $46.35. Marathon Oil advanced 3.9% to $11.73.

All told, benchmark U.S. crude rose 50 cents, or 1%, to settle at $49.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 82 cents, or 1.5%, to $54.20 a barrel in London.

Investors bid up shares in several big retailers.

Gap shares surged 7.4% to $25.82 after the apparel retailer said it will shift its focus to its growing brands Old Navy and Athleta, and away from its Gap and Banana Republic brands. The company said that it will close about 200 Gap and Banana Republic stores in the next three years and open about 270 Old Navy and Athleta stores during the same period. Macy’s shares also got a boost, climbing 5.5% to $22.17.

Kohl’s climbed 4.9% to $42.37 after the department store chain said it will open Amazon shops in 10 of its stores.

The fallout from Hurricane Harvey, which slammed the Gulf Coast last month, led Newell Brands to cut its profit forecast. The consumer products maker noted that almost all of its resin suppliers with facilities in Texas and Louisiana shut down after that storm hit. Its shares fell 3.5% to $47.03.

United Continental slid 1.3% to $60.33 after the airline cut its third-quarter outlook, citing increased fuel costs due to Harvey.

Several travel booking companies also slid Wednesday. Trivago tumbled 16.3% to $12.49, cutting its profit and revenue guidance. Its rival Expedia fell 2.2% to $144.39, and TripAdvisor slipped 0.5% to $44.31.

The dollar rose to 109.37 yen from 108.66 yen. The euro fell to $1.1913 from $1.1918.

Wholesale gasoline fell 3 cents to $1.67 a gallon. Heating oil rose 1 cent to $1.76 a gallon. Natural gas rose 3 cents to $3 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Silver fell 3 cents to $17.91 an ounce. Copper rose 2 cents to $3.15 a pound.

Global stock markets were mixed. In Europe, Germany’s DAX gained 0.7%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.3%, and the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares fell 0.3%.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1%. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.5%.

UPDATES:

2:35 p.m.: This article was updated with closing prices, context and analyst comment.

This article was originally published at 1:15 p.m.