NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks were drifting higher Tuesday as investors worked through a raft of corporate news and prepared for key U.S. economic data later this week. Energy companies advanced for a second day along with the price of oil.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 81 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,909 as of 12:15 p.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose three points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,107 and the Nasdaq composite rose 18 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5,145.
ENERGY: The volatile energy sector continued its big swings. The energy sector of the S&P 500 gained 2 percent, far more than the rest of the market. Among individual stocks, Exxon Mobil rose $1.83, or 2 percent, to $87.08 and Chevron rose $2.83, or 3 percent, to $97.77.
In oil trading, benchmark U.S. crude added $1.10, or 2.6 percent, to $47.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose $1.12, or 2.3 percent, to $49.91 a barrel in London.
MERGER CRUSH SAGA: King Digital Entertainment, the publisher of the Candy Crush Saga video game, jumped $2.27, or 15 percent, to $17.81 after Activision Blizzard announced it would buy the company for $5.9 billion. Activision Blizzard rose $1.63, or 5 percent, to $36.21.
BAD HARVEST: Archer Daniels Midland fell $4.12, or 9 percent, to $42.16. The ethanol and agricultural products maker posted third quarter earnings that badly missed analysts’ expectations. Archer Daniels has struggled in the wake of lower interest in corn ethanol as a fuel and a strong U.S. dollar, which makes U.S. agricultural products more expensive to export.
US IN FOCUS: It’s a busy week for U.S. economic indicators. The October jobs report comes out on Friday. If the survey does come in strong, it would raise market expectations that the Fed will raise interest rates at their December meeting. Economists surveyed by FactSet expect U.S. employers added 185,000 jobs in October and that the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.1 percent.
NEED INSURANCE: American International Group fell $2.73, or 4 percent, to $61.01. The financial and insurance conglomerate posted a loss in the third quarter, blaming market volatility earlier this year. The company also pushed back on activist investors who want to break up the company.
VW’S WOES PERSIST: Volkswagen slid after U.S. environmental officials said the company equipped more models than previously thought with software that let the cars cheat on diesel emissions tests. The company’s shares fell 2 percent in European trading.
BONDS, CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.20 percent from 2.17 percent late Monday. The euro fell to $1.0949 from $1.1013 and the dollar rose to 121.14 yen from 120.76 yen.
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