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Banks, technology companies power a rebound for US stocks

Stocks finished broadly higher on Wall Street Tuesday, erasing the market’s modest losses from a day earlier.

Financial, technology and health care stocks accounted for much of the rally. Banks got a boost from rising bond yields, which let them charge higher rates on loans.

Energy companies led the S&P 500 higher as the price of U.S. crude oil moved briefly above $60 a barrel. Oil hasn’t closed above $60 a barrel since November.

Even after losing some of its early strength, the broad upward turn in stocks marked a reversal for the market, which started the week on a downbeat note after racking up losses last week as investors’ jitters over a global economic slowdown intensified. That led to a troubling drop in long-term bond yields.

On Tuesday the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note edged up to 2.42 percent from 2.41 percent late Monday. However, it’s still below the yield on the three-month Treasury bill, which many see as a warning sign of a possible recession.

The S&P 500 index gained 20.10 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,818.46. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 140.90 points, or 0.6 percent, to 25,657.73. It briefly climbed 279 points.

The Nasdaq composite added 53.98 points, or 0.7 percent, to 7,691.52. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks picked up 15.30 points, or 1 percent, to 1,528.17.

Major European indexes finished higher, rebounding from a day earlier.

Even with last week’s stumble, U.S. stocks remain on track to finish the quarter with solid gains at the end of this week. The benchmark S&P 500 index is up more than 12 percent so far in 2019, an unusually strong start to a year.

Still, uncertainty remains over how the U.S. and China will resolve their costly trade dispute and how a slowing global economy will affect corporate profits as companies begin to report results for the first quarter next month.

While concerns about the global economy have held back stocks recently, traders mostly shrugged off two disappointing bellwether reports on the U.S. economy Tuesday.

Wholesale gasoline picked up 0.9 percent to $1.96 a gallon, heating oil gained 0.5 percent to $1.99 a gallon and natural gas fell 0.5 percent to $2.74 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold lost 0.6 percent to $1,315 an ounce, silver dropped 0.9 percent to $15.43 an ounce and copper slipped 0.1 percent to $2.85 a pound.

The dollar strengthened to 110.52 yen from 110.06 Japanese yen on Monday. The euro fell to $1.1278 from $1.1312.

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