NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks were climbing Tuesday and building on their gains from late last week. Strong quarterly reports boosted companies including Hormel Foods and Restaurant Brands International, and retailers were also rising in afternoon trading. Home security company ADT was surging after it agreed to be bought by an investment company.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 203 points, or 1.3 percent, to 16,177 as of 1:54 p.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 28 points, or 1.5 percent, to 1,892. The Nasdaq composite climbed 91 points, or 2.1 percent, to 4,428.
The S&P 500 rose almost 2 percent Friday, its best day in two weeks. U.S. markets were closed Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.
LOCKED UP: Home security services company ADT surged after it accepted an offer from investment company Apollo Global Management worth $42 per share, or $6.94 billion. Its stock rose $13.11, or 48.8 percent, to $39.98. Apollo Global added 66 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $14.06.
GOOD EATS: Hormel Foods, the maker of Spam and Dinty Moore stew, posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its forecast for the year. The stock climbed 3.11, or 7.5 percent, to $44.61. It’s up 60 percent over the last year.
CHOW DOWN: Restaurant Brands, the parent company of Burger King and Tim Hortons, jumped $1.27, or 4 percent, to $33.28 after the company said an important sales measurement rose at both of its chains in the fourth quarter.
HOSPITALS TAKE ILL: Hospital stocks tumbled after Community Health Systems said admissions decreased in the fourth quarter. That’s partly because it had more patients last year with respiratory illnesses and the flu. The company took a loss as it absorbed impairment charges and set aside more money to cover unpaid bills.
The stock plunged $4.73, or 25.3 percent, to $13.95 while competitor Tenet Healthcare sank 6 percent and LifePoint Health fell 8 percent. HCA Holdings, the largest publicly traded hospital chain in the U.S., lost 93 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $65.08.
EARNINGS PAIN: Three-fourths of the companies listed on the S&P 500 have reported their quarterly results, and earnings are expected to fall almost 5 percent compared with a year ago, according to S&P Capital IQ.
The biggest reason by far is the lower price of oil and other fuels: profits for energy companies are expected to drop 75 percent. Analysts also expect a 5-percent slump in the first quarter and another decline in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, S&P 500 company earnings fell for the first time since 2009.
GROUPON ROCKETS: Daily deals site Groupon gained $1.13, or 38.9 percent, to $4.01 after Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba disclosed it had taken a 5.6-percent stake in the company. Groupon stock jumped 29 percent Friday after the company reported its fourth-quarter results, but the stock is still in a big slump over the last year.
RETAILERS RISE: E-commerce giant Amazon added $9.13, or 1.8 percent, to $516.21. Home improvement retailer Home Depot rose $3.20, or 2.8 percent, to $119.52 and Lowe’s gained $2.58, or 4 percent, to $67.45.
POWERING UP: Industrial stocks also rose, helped by ADT’s big gain. Elsewhere, General Electric picked up 66 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $28.92 and Boeing added $3.40, or 3.1 percent, to $112.03.
CHINA CURRENCY: The yuan was near its highest level in 2016 after China’s central bank guided the currency higher. That’s a sign a positive sign for the economy. Weakness in the yuan this year has caused investors to worry that the Chinese economy is in worse shape than they had thought.
New yuan loans also jumped 71 percent in January, according to Xinhua, China’s official news agency. That suggests demand is strong.
STIMULUS HOPES: Japan’s economy contracted 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter, a worse result than expected. That shows that lavish stimulus policies didn’t counteract weak consumer demand and exports, but investors hope that means Japan’s central bank will take further steps to stimulate the economy.
Japan’s Nikkei added 0.2 percent after soaring 7.2 percent the day before, its biggest daily gain since September. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.1 percent.
EUROPE STOCKS: Stocks in Europe mostly fell. Germany’s DAX lost 0.8 percent and France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.1 percent. However Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.7 percent.
OIL TALK: The price of U.S. oil retreated after a big gain Friday. Several times in recent days, oil prices have risen because investors hoped that major oil-producing countries would reach a deal that would reduce production, which would shore up the price of oil.
Russia and Saudi Arabia said Tuesday they had reached a deal to freeze their oil output, that deal won’t take effect unless other OPEC nations also agree to it. Analysts say Iran probably sign on because it wants to increase production following its period of sanctions. Benchmark U.S. crude lost 66 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $28.78 a barrel in New York. It jumped 12 percent Friday, its biggest gain in years.
Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, gave up $1.44, or 4.3 percent, to $31.95 a barrel in London. The price of Brent was little changed on Monday.
Other energy prices also skidded. Wholesale gasoline fell 6.5 percent, heating oil lost almost 4 percent, and natural gas declined 3.5 percent.
BONDS, CURRENCIES: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.79 percent from 1.75 percent Friday. The dollar rose to 113.92 yen from 113.26 yen late Friday. The euro slipped to $1.113 from $1.126 on Friday.
METALS: The prices of gold and silver have climbed this year as investors look for safety in a turbulent market. With the stock market bouncing back on Tuesday, the price of gold sank $31.20, or 2.5 percent, to $1,208.20 an ounce, and silver fell 45.6 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $15.334 an ounce. Copper rose 2.2 cents to $2.051 a pound.