US stocks shake slump on consumer data, higher oil

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks scored solid gains Tuesday, and snapped an eight-day losing streak for the Dow, as higher oil prices and a record reading on US consumer confidence boosted sentiment.

The gains followed a report showing consumer confidence in March hit its highest level in 16 years, while oil prices climbed due to an outage in Libya that helped ease worries about a supply glut.

Analysts also cited a boost from President Donald Trump's shift towards passing tax cuts after last week's health care reform proposal died.

"The agenda narrative from the administration has shifted," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7 percent to close the session at 20,701.64.

The broad-based S&P 500 also advanced 0.7 percent to end at 2,358.57, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.6 percent to 5,875.14.

Major gainers in the Dow included Apple, Caterpillar, DuPont, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, all up 1.5 percent or more.

General Motors climbed 2.5 percent after activist investor David Einhorn unveiled a proposal to try to boost GM's share price by creating two classes of stock.

But GM criticized the idea as risky and said it also intends to fight an Einhorn effort to nominate four candidates to the GM board.

Ford rose 1.7 percent as it announced it will invest $1.2 billion in three Michigan plants as part of a 2015 labor agreement committing to $9 billion in investment through 2019, about half of which has now been announced.

Tesla Motors advanced 2.7 percent after China's Tencent disclosed in a US securities filing that it bought a five percent stake in the US company for $1.8 billion. The Chinese technology company runs WeChat, the world's most popular messaging service, as well as many mobile game platforms.

Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden and other chains, shot up 9.3 percent after reporting that third-quarter net profit rose 56.6 percent from the year-ago period to $165.6 million.