Crude oil bounce fuels broad rally

Themarket sees its biggest jump in over amonth, and companies o≠ er encouraging earnings reports.

Energy stocks led a broad rally in U. S. stocks Thursday, giving the market its biggest gain in over a month.

A recovery in crude oil prices helped put stocks into rebound mode a day after the market had itsworst drop since September. Investors also welcomed some encouraging company earnings.

Chevron and Exxon Mobil each jumped about 5 percent, by far the biggest gains in the Dow Jones industrial average. It was a reprieve for the energy sector, which has been battered in recent months as crude oil prices plunged. U. S. crude oil jumped 2.4 percentThursday, rising 72 cents to close at $ 31.20 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, also

STOCK WATCH: Exxon Mobil gained 72 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $ 31.03 a barrel in London.

“That all led to a little bit of confidence in the markets and some buyers coming in,” said Sean Lynch, co- head of global equity for Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “It’s been pretty ugly so far, year- to- date, and it’s good to see the gains, but we’ll see if they follow through ( Friday).”

The Dow rose 227.64 points, or 1.41 percent, to 16,379.05. The average had risen as much as 330 points earlier. The Standard& Poor’s 500 index gained 31.56 points, or 1.7 percent, to 1,921.84. TheNasdaq composite added 88.94 points, or 2 percent, to 4,615.

It was the best gain for each index since Dec. 4.

Evenwith the big rebound, the three major U. S. stock indexes remain down for the year. The Dow and S& P 500 are both off about 6 percent, while the Nasdaq is down nearly 8 percent.

The rise in crude oil led traders to pile into several big- name energy companies. ExxonMobil added $ 3.47, or 4.6 percent, to $ 79.12, while Chevron rose $ 4.14, or 5.1 percent, to $ 85.47.

Energy company Williams Cos. vaulted 34.4 percent, to lead all the gainers in the S& P 500. The stock, which had fallen sharply a day earlier, rose $ 4.68 to $ 18.29. It’s still down29 percent for the year. Freeport- Mc- MoRan also got a boost. The mining company rose 46 cents, or 12.3 percent, to $ 4.20.

All told, the S& P 500’ s energy stocks jumped 4.5 percent. The sector remains down 6.1 percent for the year.

The start of the latest corporate earnings season also helped lift the market Thursday.

JPMorganChase rose 1.5 percent after the bank reported earnings that were better than analysts expected. The stock added 86 cents to $ 58.20.

Best Buy slid 9.7 percent to $ 26.43 after the electronics store operator reported a drop in sales during the holiday season. The company also said it expects a wider drop in fourth- quarter revenue, partly on weak mobile- phone and personal- device sales.

Investors may get more insight Friday into how the U. S. economy and corporate America are doing. Reports on consumer sentiment, retail sales and manufacturing are due out.