Investing.com -- U.S. equities rose broadly extending gains from late last week, as stocks decoupled from plunging oil prices, while receiving a boost from strong consumer data in China and dovish comments from Mario Draghi on the increased possibility for additional easing measures by the European Central Bank.
Stocks in the energy sectors moved higher on Tuesday morning after reports surfaced of a potential deal between Russia, Saudi Arabia and two other OPEC members aimed at freezing production among the four states. As word spread of the emergency meeting in Doha, crude futures surged nearly 7% amid optimism for an accord that could help rescue prices from near-record lows. Oil prices, however, quickly retreated back into negative territory after Saudi officials announced that the deal is contingent on approval from Iran, which went conspicuously absent from the meeting.
While the four producers are scheduled to meet with Iran and Iraq on Wednesday in Tehran, Iranian officials are not expected to freeze production until its output returns to levels last seen in 2010, when the U.S. levied unprecedented economic sanctions against the nation. On Monday, Iran announced that it began exporting oil to Europe for the first time in five years, nearly a month after a group of western powers eased the crippling sanctions against the Persian Gulf state.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 193.94 or 1.21% to 16,167.78, completing one of its best two-day rallies since August, while the NASDAQ Composite index added 98.45 or 2.27% to 4,435.96, amid a strong performance among biotech stocks. The NASDAQ also posted one of its strongest two-day gains since October.
The S&P 500 Composite index, meanwhile, rose 30.79 or 1.65% to 1,895.57, as stocks in all 10 sectors closed in the green. Stocks in the Industrials, Technology and Consumer Services industries led, each gaining more than 2% on the session. After hitting a bottom at 1,810 late last week, the S&P 500 has rallied by approximately 4.5%.
The top performer on the Dow was Boeing Company (N:BA), which gained 4.05 or 3.73% to 112.68. Shares in the Everett, Washington-based company have rebounded since reports broke last week that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating whether the jet manufacturer violated securities laws with its accounting for 787 Dreamliner and 747 jumbo aircraft sales. The worst performer was Chevron Corporation (N:CVX), which lost 0.94 or 1.10% to 84.49, after the sharp turnaround in oil prices on Tuesday.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Yahoo! Inc (O:YHOO), which soared 2.24 or 8.28% to 29.28 after the company announced that it will host the first-ever live stream of Berkshire Hathaway (N:BRKa)'s annual shareholder meeting in late-April. The worst performer was Mattel Inc (O:MAT), which fell 0.45 or 1.46% to 30.31. Shares in the toy manufacturing giant are still up by more than 8% over the last year following strong earnings last quarter.
The top performer on the S&P 500 was ADT Corporation (N:ADT), which surged 12.64 or 47.04% to 39.51. Earlier, Apollo Global Management announced that it reached a deal to acquire the South Florida security services company in a $15 billion merger. The worst performer was Southwestern Energy Company (N:SWN), which fell 0.96 or 10.75% to 7.97. Shares in Southwestern Energy are down nearly 70% over the last year.
On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones by a 2,497-583 margin.