US stocks tick up as oil rebounds

The S&P 500 opened 14 points, or 0.8%, lower at 1,906.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up more than 200 points, with United Technologies and Goldman Sachs contributing the most to gains.

The Nasdaq Composite index rose by 40 points, or 0.9%, to settle at 4,582.

The market gained support from official data released before the opening showing an encouraging 4.9 percent rebound in durable goods orders in the USA manufacturing sector in January, and new unemployment claims that rose last week but remained in the low range of the past year. Iraq’s governor to OPEC joined the conversation Wednesday, saying oil producers inside and outside the cartel should act (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/opec-and-non-opec-must-act-together-to-halt-the-oil-slump-iraq-official-says-2016-02-24) promptly together to rebalance the market.

Market players said investors have focused on Friday’s G-20 meeting in Shanghai as one potential catalyst for troubled, directionless markets.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said Wednesday the pressure on the central bank to raise rates has eased, adding what happens with inflation expectations will be a key driver of what happens next for monetary policy.

GameStop Corp. GME, +0.79% may be active after the retailer late Tuesday said its board approved hiking the quarterly dividend to 37 cents a share from 36 cents.

The Dow is down 727.74 points, or 4.2 percent. Fears have continued to mount over the impact of low oil on the energy sector and banks that have lent to it, as well as sovereign-wealth funds in oil-dependent economies.

Stocks are attempting to shrug off a steep sell-off in China and declining oil prices; April-dated crude futures have plunged 1.6% to $31.65 per barrel, as speculators fret over a global crude supply glut. Apple closed up 0.69% to 96.76, while Google rose 0.88% to close at 705.75.

Stocks in recent weeks have increasingly taken their cues instead from the volatile energy markets, as swings in the oil price ripple across risky assets such as stocks, high-yield debt and base metals prices.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 1.2% in early trade, reversing some of the previous session’s losses.