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In this Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, photo, the American flag flies above the Wall Street entrance to the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. U.S. stocks are wavering between small gains and losses Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, following a sharp sell-off the day before.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising Thursday afternoon as the price of oil climbed for the third day in a row while key oil-producing nations discuss cuts in production. Tech stocks are rising, led by big names like Amazon and PayPal. Drugmakers are trading lower.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average added 141 points, or 0.9 percent, to 16,085 as of 3:25 p.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 12 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,896. The Nasdaq composite index gained 39 points, or 0.9 percent, to 4,507.
OIL CLIMBS: The price of oil rose as the Russian government continued talks with Saudi Arabia and OPEC about cutting production. U.S. crude rose 92 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $33.22 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, gained 79 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $33.89.
The price of U.S. oil has climbed 9.5 percent over the last three days.
Oil prices have been on a long, steep slide since 2014 as world stockpiles hit extremely high levels and investors fear demand will get weaker. Last Wednesday U.S. oil closed at a 12-year low of $26.55 a barrel.
ENERGY STOCKS: Oil and natural gas producer Devon Energy rose $2.26, or 9.2 percent, to $26.75. Oil company Hess, which rose almost 6 percent Wednesday after it said it will cut more spending, picked up another $3.23, or 8.8 percent, to $40.08.
FACEBOOK GETS LIKES: Facebook surged after reporting that its profit more than doubled in the fourth quarter. The social networking site gained another 46 million users, giving it 1.59 billion around the world. The stock rose $14.97, or 15.8 percent, to $109.42, on pace for its best day in two years.
SO DO OTHER TECH STOCKS: Facebook's results lifted the four big-name "FANG" stocks: Facebook, e-commerce giant Amazon, streaming video company Netflix and search engine operator Google. Amazon advanced 7 percent and Google's parent company, Alphabet, added 4 percent. Neflix gained 3 percent.
"Since Facebook killed it yesterday, the others are enjoying a rally," said Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter. "Facebook use is completely independent of Amazon use, but investors blindly bid up all of them when one does well."
Amazon will report its fourth-quarter results after the market closes Thursday, and Pachter said that could lead to more gains for the four stocks.
BID LOWER: E-commerce site eBay lost $3.27, or 12.4 percent, to $23.15 after its guidance for the current quarter and the year disappointed investors. Its former payment unit PayPal reported strong results and added $2.42, or 7.7 percent, to $34.01. PayPal was spun off from eBay in July.
"While it is safe to say Amazon won this holiday season, eBay clearly lost," said Wedbush analyst Gil Luria.
A GOOD FIT: Sports apparel maker Under Armour reported a larger-than-expected profit and better revenue than analysts had forecast. The company said shoe revenue almost doubled on strong sales of Stephan Curry basketball sneakers. Its stock climbed $15.19, or 22.1 percent, to $83.77, putting Under Armour on pace for its biggest one-day gain in two years.
FEELING SICKLY: Companies that make complex, costly drugs tumbled. Cancer drug maker Celgene lost $5.48, or 5.4 percent, to $96.83 after its 2016 estimates disappointed investors.
The Massachusetts attorney general's office said Wednesday it is investigating whether the high price of a new hepatitis C drug from Gilead Sciences violates state law. The stocks have fallen in recent months as controversy over drug prices has increased.
Gilead fell $1.99, or 2.2 percent, to $87.64.
The Nasdaq biotech index fell 3 percent. That index hit a record high in July and has lost about a third of its value since then.
HEALTH CARE SLIPS: Other health care stocks also struggled. Abbott Laboratories lost $3.56, or 8.8 percent, to $36.91 after the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs posted quarterly profits that disappointed investors. Prescription drug distributor McKesson gave up $6.03, or 3.6 percent, to $160.89 following its quarterly report.
CATERPILLAR DIGS IN: Construction and mining equipment maker Caterpillar reported better-than-expected quarterly results even though the company is struggling with lower commodity prices and a weakening global economy. It rose $2.69, or 4.6 percent, to $61.01.
JUNIPER BURIED: Computer network equipment maker Juniper Networks tumbled after releasing disappointing forecasts for the current quarter. The company also said its chief financial officer was leaving. The stock lost $4.14, or 15.6 percent, to $22.40.
OUT OF STOCK: Equipment rental company United Rentals reported a smaller fourth-quarter profit and less revenue than Wall Street expected. Its stock fell $10.18, or 18.2 percent, to $45.66.
OVERSEAS: Germany's DAX fell 2.4 percent and France's CAC-40 gave up 1.3 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares lost 1 percent. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index gave up early gains to end 0.7 percent lower. The Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China closed 2.9 percent lower.
METALS: Gold declined 20 cents to $1,115.60 an ounce. Silver fell 22.7 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $14.232 an ounce. Copper lost 1.3 cents to $2.052 a pound.
OTHER ENERGY TRADING: Wholesale gasoline rose 3.3 cents to $1.079 a gallon. Heating oil rose 0.6 cents to $1.031 a gallon. Natural gas rose 2.5 cents to $2.182 per 1,000 cubic feet.
BONDS, CURRENCIES: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was unchanged at 2 percent. The euro rose to $1.0963 from $1.0907 late Wednesday. The dollar rose to 118.73 yen from 118.64 yen.
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