NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are sharply higher in midday trading for the second day in a row.
Exxon Mobil Corp. rose the most of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average on Tuesday, gaining 2.8 percent. Chevron Corp. rose 2.7 percent.
Bank of America Corp. sank 2 percent, the worst in the Dow. Other bank stocks were mixed. Financial stocks have been hit hard in recent weeks over worries about Europe’s debt crisis and the possibility that the U.S. could slip back into recession.
Stocks rose broadly despite another weak report on the housing market.
The Dow rose 176 points, or 1.6 percent, to 11,036 in midday trading.
The S&P 500 index rose 21, or 1.8 percent, to 1,144. The Nasdaq rose 49, or 2 percent, to 2,395.
