Dow at 12,428 close to close time, up 72 points.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks turned higher Wednesday, reversing
earlier losses, as rising oil prices offset worries about the
global economic recovery.
Europe’s worsening debt crisis and weak Japanese exports raised
concerns that the world’s major economies were flagging. Oil jumped
above $100 per barrel, helping to turn energy stocks higher.
Energy companies in the S&P 500 rose 1.4 percent. Cabot Oil and
Gas Corp. led the S&P 500 higher, rising 6 percent. Higher
prices for other commodities including copper and silver helped
send material company stocks higher. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
Inc. rose 2 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 38 points, or 0.3 percent, to
12,394, in midday trading. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 4,
or 0.3 percent, to 1,320. The Nasdaq composite rose 16, or 0.6
percent, to 2,761.
