(Reuters) – Wall Street surged over 2 percent on Friday after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly cut interest rates and Microsoft led a major rally in technology shares, repairing some of the damage to the S&P 500’s worst January since 2009.

Slammed by collapsing oil prices that have fed doubts about the health of the global economy, stocks have had a volatile start to the year. At one point last week, the S&P’s loss for 2016 reached 11 percent before recovering to end the month down 5 percent.

The index rose 2.48 percent on Friday, its strongest day since September.

“Sentiment certainly had swung to a wildly negative scenario. In the short term, I’m not sure the sentiment backdrop we’ve seen was warranted,” said Michael Church, president of Addison Capital Management in Philadelphia.

“What happens if there is not a recession? What happens if China stabilizes and the Fed doesn’t raise rates aggressively?”

Global equities got a surprise boost on Friday after Japan’s central bank cut a benchmark rate below zero to stimulate its economy.

Stocks were also lifted by weak fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product growth data, which bolstered arguments that the Federal Reserve might go slower than expected on future rate hikes.

While the Fed has not ruled out a rate hike in March, many investors believe recent global economic and financial turmoil may lead it to wait.

Microsoft shares jumped 5.83 percent on better-than-expected results.

The software company was the biggest influence on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq and helped push the S&P tech sector up 3.6 percent, its strongest session since August.

Fourth-quarter corporate reporting season is well under way, with S&P 500 companies on average expected to post a 4.1 percent drop in earnings, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Excluding energy companies, earnings are seen rising 2.1 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 2.47 percent higher at 16,466.30 while the S&P 500 gained 46.88 points or 2.48 percent higher to end at 1,940.24.

The Nasdaq Composite surged 2.38 percent to 4,613.95.

For the week, the Dow gained 2.3 percent, the S&P added 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq increased 0.5 percent.

That left the Dow down 5.5 percent for the month and the Nasdaq 7.9 percent lower, its largest monthly loss since May 2010.

In Friday’s trading, Amazon slumped 7.61 percent after its quarterly profit missed expectations.

Xerox gained 5.63 percent after announcing a deal with Carl Icahn to split itself into two.

U.S. crude oil rose 1.4 percent after trimming early gains on a report that Iran would not participate in a possible deal between OPEC and other producing countries to reduce output.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,789 to 339. On the Nasdaq, 2,290 issues rose and 584 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 16 new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 28 new highs and 100 new lows.

About 10.0 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 8.3 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish)

(Reuters) – Wall Street climbed on Thursday as a blockbuster quarterly report from Facebook drove tech shares higher and a bounce in oil prices propped up the beleaguered energy sector.

Facebook surged 15.5 percent in its biggest one-day leap since 2013 after the digital advertising behemoth smashed expectations with a 52-percent jump in fourth-quarter revenue.

Helped also by a 4.28-percent gain in Alphabet, the S&P tech sector surged 1.48 percent.

The S&P energy sector rallied 3.15 percent, buoyed by a rise of almost 3 percent in oil prices due to speculation that Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries would cut output to boost prices.

Optimism sparked by earnings from Facebook and a handful of other companies, as well as the bounce in oil prices, was behind most of the day’s improved sentiment, investors said.

But they also warned the gains could be short-lived and that a steep selloff this year caused by weak oil and worries about China’s economy may not be exhausted. The S&P remains down 7 percent for 2016.

“You had marquee names with pretty good earnings,” said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. “I’d love to say we’re onward and upward from here but I don’t think things work that way.”

The Dow Jones transport average, which Carlson said was a good indicator of the economy’s health, fell 0.8 percent.

Others remained cautious after comments by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee on Wednesday did not more strongly signal it could scale back the pace of future interest rate hikes in the wake of recent turmoil in global markets.

“The FOMC’s statement was less dovish than anticipated and very likely may have marked a top in the recent rebound we have seen,” warned Mohannad Aama, Managing Director, Beam Capital Management LLC in New York.

The Nasdaq biotech index lost 3.5 percent and was on track for its biggest monthly fall in 16 years.

Abbott Labs was the biggest drag on the healthcare sector, with a 9.3-percent drop.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.79 percent to end at 16,069.64 points while the S&P 500 added 0.55 percent to 1,893.36. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.86 percent to 4,506.68.

After the bell, Amazon slumped 11 percent after its quarterly report let down investors. Ahead of the report, it had risen 8.9 percent.

During the session, PayPal surged 8.39 percent and Under Armour jumped 22.59 percent. Revenue at both companies beat estimates.

Among the losers, eBay sank 12.45 percent after it forecast weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,054 to 1,032. On the Nasdaq, 1,470 issues rose and 1,312 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed eight new 52-week highs and 24 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 13 new highs and 166 new lows.

About 8.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 8.6 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

(Reuters) – Wall Street rebounded over 1 percent on Tuesday, driven by a surge in oil prices and strong quarterly results from 3M, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble.

All 10 major S&P sectors ended higher, led by a 3.78-percent rise in the energy sector. Crude prices settled up 3.7 percent on hopes that OPEC and non-OPEC producers would tackle an unrelenting supply glut.

With oil at 12-year lows and threatening to put higher-cost producers out of business, investors have been reeling from a turbulent start to the year that has left the S&P down 7 percent from the end of 2015.

“This is a schizophrenic market. Big up days, big down days. No real direction,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York. “We need some stability in oil prices for the markets to calm down from here and become less volatile.”

Laser-focused on Tuesday’s rebound in crude prices, Wall Street shrugged off a 6 percent slump overnight in Chinese shares, sparked by jitters over Beijing’s ability to calm domestic markets.

That left the gap between U.S. and Chinese stock indexes at its widest since at least August.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 1.78 percent higher at 16,167.23 points and the S&P 500 gained 1.41 percent to 1,903.63.

The Nasdaq Composite added 1.09 percent to 4,567.67.

While the U.S. Federal Reserve is not expected to move on interest rates at its two-day meeting, which began on Tuesday, investors will parse the Fed’s commentary to gauge how recent global turmoil affects the likelihood of future rate hikes.

Johnson & Johnson was the biggest influence on the S&P, up 4.96 percent, while Procter & Gamble rose 2.55 percent. Both companies reported profits that beat estimates.

Exxon climbed 3.68 percent, while Chevron rose 3.99 percent.

3M jumped 5.24 percent, giving the biggest boost to the Dow, after better-than-expected quarterly profit.

Overall profit expectations remain weak, largely because of oil. Earnings of S&P 500 companies on average are expected to fall 4.9 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. Excluding energy, earnings are expected to grow 1.1 percent.

About 7.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, below the 8.2 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,591 to 507. On the Nasdaq, 2,010 issues rose and 809 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed three new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded eight new highs and 75 lows.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

(Reuters) – Wall Street surged 2 percent on Friday to wrap up its first positive week of 2016 as a cold snap in the United States and Europe sent oil prices sharply higher.

A 4.3-percent jump in the S&P energy sector laid the foundation for the S&P 500’s strongest session so far this year.

Crude prices, recently under pressure from a global glut, recovered 9 percent as harsh winter weather boosted demand for heating oil and traders cashed in short positions following a steep drop this month.

After dropping earlier this week to 2014 lows, the S&P 500 has recovered in the past two sessions to end the week 1.4-percent higher. But the index is still down 7 percent in 2016 and remains at levels touched last August when fears of trouble in China’s economy rattled global markets.

“Trying to push stocks up from this level is a bit more difficult than pushing them down. We could be in a very wide range for a long period of time,” said Warren West, principal at Greentree Brokerage Services in Philadelphia.

The Dow Jones industrial average rallied 1.33 percent to finish the session at 16,093.51 points while the S&P 500 surged 2.03 percent to 1,906.9.

The Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.66 percent to 4,591.18.

The recent volatility has led to a spike in volume. About 9.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, well above the 8.0 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

U.S. economic data on Friday showed existing home sales soared nearly 15 percent in December, handily beating estimates and recovering from a 10.5 percent fall in November.

Apple rose 5.32 percent and gave the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Despite widespread concerns about potentially weak iPhone demand, Piper Jaffray recommended buying Apple’s shares heading into its quarterly results next week.

Fourth-quarter earnings reports are likely to offer little cheer, with S&P 500 companies on average expected to post a 4.3 percent decline in profit, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Shares of General Electric declined 1.22 percent after its quarterly revenue missed analysts’ estimates.

American Express fell 12.10 percent after a disappointing earnings forecast.

Schlumberger rose 6.10 percent. The world’s biggest oilfield services company reported better-than-expected profit and set a $10 billion buyback program.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,806 to 329. On the Nasdaq, 2,308 issues rose and 527 fell.

The S&P 500 showed three new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 13 new highs and 50 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

(Reuters) – Wall Street staged a modest rally on Thursday as oil prices recorded their biggest gain this year and ECB President Mario Draghi raised hopes of more stimulus for Europe.

Seven of 10 major S&P 500 sectors climbed, with a 2.88-percent jump in energy stocks leading the way.

Helping global and U.S. stocks, the European Central Bank kept its main rates on hold and Draghi said the central bank would “review and possibly reconsider” its monetary policy as soon as March. Many analysts had not expected a rate cut before June.

Also boosting share prices, oil spiked from a 12-year low after U.S. crude stockpiles did not rise as much as feared.

In the prior session, the relentless drop in oil prices and fears of a China-led global economic slowdown had sent the S&P 500 to its lowest since 2014. The index remains at lows not seen since September last year.

A lack of upbeat technical measures made some investors doubt that Thursday’s gains would hold, and many remained cautious the market could fall further.

“It’s a different situation than in previous years when you could buy the dip and be very confident,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co in Nashville. “Here you have a trend that has turned negative and a Fed that is far less friendly than in 2012, ’13 or ’14.”

Billionaire investor George Soros told Bloomberg TV he shorted the S&P 500.

With fourth-quarter reporting season under way, S&P 500 companies on average are expected to post 4.5-percent lower earnings, according to Thomson Reuters data. But excluding the badly bruised energy sector, earnings are seen growing 1.6 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 0.74 percent stronger at 15,882.68 points and the S&P 500 gained 0.52 percent to 1,868.99. Earlier in the day, the S&P 500 was up as much as 1.64 percent before losing most of that gain.

The Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.01 percent to 4,472.06.

The recent volatility has led to a spike in volume. About 9.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, compared to the 7.8 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Home Depot gave the biggest boost to the Dow, rising 3.23 percent after JP Morgan said warm weather could help the home improvement company.

Kinder Morgan surged 15.6 percent as the pipeline company outlined plans to cut debt and spending, raising the chances of a higher dividend.

Union Pacific fell 3.55 percent after the railroad operator said weak business conditions would persist in 2016, a warning that also weighed on its peers.

The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and 14 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 4 new highs and 91 new lows.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,003 to 1,075, for a 1.86-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,508 issues rose and 1,292 fell for a 1.17-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

(Editing by Nick Zieminski)

(Reuters) – Wall Street’s recent selloff deepened on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 closing at its lowest in over a year as U.S. oil prices plummeted to 2003 lows.

The equities rout was widespread, hitting nine of the 10 major S&P sectors. The small-cap Russell’s 2000 index fell 3.6 percent before reversing its loss late in the session.

The beaten-down S&P energy sector fell 2.93 percent, leading the losers. Exxon dropped 4.21 percent and Chevron slumped 3.10 percent.

Collapsing oil prices and fears of a slowdown in China, the world’s second largest economy and a key market for U.S. companies, have led the S&P 500 to drop 9 percent this year. In the past six months, the energy sector has fallen 26 percent.

“The fear is, ‘Is tomorrow going to bring more selling?’ People are not even thinking about today, they’re thinking about tomorrow,” said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.

U.S. crude sank 6.6 percent on Wednesday as a supply glut bumped up against bearish financial reports that deepened worries over demand.

But a late-day bounce in U.S. oil prices helped reduce losses in stocks.

“If you look at crude prices, they are shooting right back up,” Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, said ahead of the close.

The S&P 500 ended down 1.17 percent at 1,859.33, its lowest close since October 2014. It had fallen as low as 1,812.29.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 1.56 percent lower at 15,766.74 points.

After a brief late-day rally into positive territory, the Nasdaq Composite lost steam and ended down 0.12 percent at 4,471.69.

The CBOE volatility index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, jumped 5.9 percent to 27.59.

Strength last year in Netflix, Facebook and a handful of other technology stocks masked troubled sentiment in other S&P 500 components, said R Squared portfolio manager Riad Younes.

“You had a crowded trade on a few names that kept the average much higher than it should be,” Younes said. “It feels like a bear market for the average stock.”

IBM weighed the most on the Dow, falling 4.88 percent after disappointing earnings report.

Netflix ended down 0.14 percent despite better-than-expected growth in its subscriber base.

An unusually high 12.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, well above the 7.8 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The New York Stock Exchange recorded 2,271 stocks advancing stocks and 883 decliners. On the Nasdaq, 1,551 issues fell and 1,331 advanced.

The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and 182 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 5 new highs and 728 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Nick Zieminski)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks pared gains on Tuesday amid a renewed drop in oil prices, giving up most of an early rally that had been spurred by speculation of more stimulus efforts in China.

Stock markets from Asia to Europe, and initially on Wall Street, rallied to snap a rout this year in equities after Chinese gross domestic product data showed the slowest growth last year in a quarter century.

Shares in Europe rose more than 1 percent, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 1.6 percent. But gains on Wall Street were modest, and the Nasdaq closed slightly lower.

The market’s euphoria struck Simon Smith, chief economist at online brokerage FxPro, as odd given that weak GDP data are strange reasons to cheer China. Stimulus can only mean more interest rate cuts or reduced reserve requirements, which would weaken the Chinese currency further, he said.

“Most of the time developed markets have been happy to ignore and be totally uncorrelated to the China markets,” Smith said.

The major U.S. equity indexes faltered as crude prices traded below $29 a barrel. The International Energy Agency, which advises developed countries on energy policy, said the market should remain oversupplied this year and weaker prices could lie ahead.

The potential for oil to tumble further has scared investors as they’re reminded of the financial crisis in 2008 when many financial stocks cratered and their prices never recovered to former levels, Rick Meckler, president of hedge fund LibertyView Capital Management LLC in Jersey City, New Jersey.

“You’re just having this testing of what the bottom on energy is and no one knows the impact of a complete collapse the energy industry would have on U.S. equity prices,” he said, adding that people are afraid oil prices might collapse.

MSCI’s all-country world stock index rose 0.56 percent, paring gains of more than 1 percent. In Europe, the pan-regional FTSEurofirst 300 index closed 1.37-percent higher at 1,310.95.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 27.94 points, or 0.17 percent, to 16,016.02. The S&P 500 rose 1 point, or 0.05 percent, to 1,881.33 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 11.47 points, or 0.26 percent, to 4,476.95.

Brent crude futures closed a touch higher, while the U.S. futures contract slid; their prices settled 30 cents apart. The U.S. contract did not settle on Monday, a U.S. holiday.

Brent crude futures rose 0.74 percent to settle at $28.76 a barrel. U.S. crude futures fell 3.26 percent to settle at $28.46. Earlier they had touched an intra-day high of $30.21.

Investor risk appetite initially improved on the expectation of further stimulus in China and rising prices for Brent, the global benchmark. Chinese oil demand likely hit a record in 2015, helping bolster the global oil benchmark.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major trading currencies, pared most gains to trade 0.11 percent higher. The dollar added 0.22 percent against the Japanese currency, moving to 117.57 yen.

Against the euro, the dollar slipped 0.18 percent to $1.0909.

The benchmark U.S. Treasury note fell 5/32 to lift its yield to 2.0521 percent.

Top-rated German bond yields rose as investors favored riskier assets. The price of 10-year German bonds, viewed as a safe-haven in times of market turmoil, fell and its yield rose 1.5 basis points to 0.485 percent, off the day’s high just above 0.50 percent.

U.S. gold for February delivery fell $1.60 to settle at $1,089.10 an ounce.

(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by James Dalgleish and Nick Zieminski)