Stocks Rally as Oil Price Tumbles Again

Stocks closed higher on Wall Street Tuesday as inflation worries ebbed and oil prices slid. The S&P 500 gained 2.1% after a report showed inflation’s rapid acceleration paused at the wholesale level last month, the AP reports. Oil tumbled more than 6%. Treasury yields were mixed as the Federal Reserve began its highly anticipated two-day meeting on rates. The S&P 500 rose 89.34 points to 4,262.45. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 599.10 points, 1.8%, to 33,544.34. The Nasdaq rose 367.40 points, or 2.9%, to 12,948.62. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 27.25 points, or 1.4%, to 1,968.97

The wilder action was in oil and Asian stock markets, where tightened anti-COVID measures in China are raising worries about demand for energy and about disruptions to manufacturing and global trade. Oil prices tumbled more than 6%, taking some pressure off the world's high inflation, and a barrel of US crude fell below $97 after starting the week above $109. Stocks in Hong Kong sank more than 5% for a second straight day after the neighboring city of Shenzhen was ordered into a shutdown.

A reprieve on fuel prices helped a wide variety of stocks, and the majority of companies in the S&P 500 rose. Airlines led the way after several raised their forecasts for revenue this quarter. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines all soared 8% or more. In other developments, the London Metal Exchange said trading in nickel will resume Wednesday, just over a week after it was suspended when the price of the metal skyrocketed to over $100,000 per ton. Russia is the world’s No. 3 producer of nickel. Its price and that of many other commodities has surged on speculation over possible disruptions to supplies as Russia contends with widening economic sanctions. (More stock market stories.)