US Markets Lifted By Bargain-hunters

US stocks started the month on a positive note, closing with solid gains on Tuesday after a rocky month of trading in January, and benefited from bargain-hunting after recent losses.

Concerns about the wave of price increases hitting the US economy which prompted the Federal Reserve to signal it will soon raise borrowing costs had spooked markets in recent weeks, but as the quarterly earnings season gets underway, there is a sense the downturn in equities may have gone too far.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.8 percent to finish the session at 35,405.

The S&P 500 added 0.7 percent to end at 4,546, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained nearly 0.8 percent to 14,346.

It was the third winning session in a row.

"So far we experienced a small rally off deeply oversold conditions," Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investment told AFP.

But he cautioned that performance in coming days will depend on how investors react to corporate results and the key US employment data Friday.

"A few weeks ago... the market had a big sell off and rallied for one or two days, and then kept on falling."

Among individual companies, UPS rocketed 14 percent higher after lifting its dividend payment by 49 percent to US$1.52 a share following a jump in 2021 earnings.

ExxonMobil rose 6.4 percent after the oil giant reported annual profits of US$23 billion last year compared with a loss of US$22.4 billion in 2020 when demand was dented by Covid-19 restrictions.

High oil prices helped boost results again during the quarter, although increased costs cut into gains in some operations.

Auto giant General Motors, which was reporting earnings after the close, gained 2.5 percent. (AFP)