U.S. stocks rise on earning reports

NEW YORK — A mix of positive earnings and corporate news drove stocks higher Tuesday. Signs that Greece might be willing to broker a deal with its creditors also gave the market a lift.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 21.85 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,068.59. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 139.55 points, or 0.8 percent, to 17,868.76. The Nasdaq composite rose 61.63 points, or 1.3 percent, to 4,787.64.

Coca-Cola rose after the company reported a betterthan-expected quarterly profit. General Motors gained after an activist investor said he would seek a seat on the company’s board and push for a stock buyback.

Stock investors have had a bumpy ride since the start of the year.

The market slumped in January as the ongoing drop in oil prices hit energy stocks and amid worries about the prospects for global growth. Stocks have bounced back in February as energy companies rose from their lows and on signs that the U.S. economy is maintaining its recovery. On Tuesday, stocks logged a solid gain even after a big drop in oil prices pushed the energy sector lower.

“The economic data is coming in OK, and when you delve into the big picture of the earnings reports, they’re not bad,” said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at Boston Private Wealth. “People want to be in the market when it starts to go back up.”

Investors were encouraged by signs that a deal could be reached between Greece and its lenders. The nation’s new prime minister voiced confidence Monday that a compromise can be reached at highstakes meetings in coming days.

Greece’s stocks and bonds have taken a drubbing this year after the new, leftled government renewed a pledge to seek debt forgiveness and called the country’s rescue package, with its conditions of strict austerity, a “toxic fantasy.”

“There’s a growing sense that the two sides in the negotiations may be moving toward some compromise,” said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial.

Energy stocks took a hit Tuesday after the International Energy Agency said the recent rebound in oil prices “will be comparatively limited in scope.” Analysts at Citigroup said the upturn would likely prove to be short-lived and predicted that rising inventory costs could push the price as low as $20 a barrel.

Oil dropped more than 5 percent, erasing three days of gains. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $2.84 to close at $50.02 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell $1.91 to close at $56.43 in London.

Shares of General Motors rose after Harry Wilson, a former hedge fund manager and onetime member of President Barack Obama’s administration’s task force that helped to restructure GM and Chrysler in 2009, said he’ll seek a seat on GM’s board at the automaker’s annual meeting this summer and will push for an $8 billion stock buyback to take place next year. Wilson is acting with the backing of a variety of hedge funds. The shares rose $1.52, or 4.2 percent, to $37.52.

U.S. government bond prices were little changed. The yield on the benchmark Treasury note was flat at 1.98 percent.