Stocks made big gains on Monday with some help from an unlikely source these days: the energy industry.
Oil prices, which have cratered by around 50% over the past six months, reversed course with a modest increase. The rebound helped to lift stocks across the board by signaling a possible bottom in the recent slide in the oil patch.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 196 points, or 1.1%, to 17,361. The S&P 500 gained 25 points, or 1.3%, to 2,020. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 41 points, or 0.9%, for 4,676 total.
Shares of Exxon Mobil, which reported lower profits Monday, but managed to beat Wall Street expectations, rose 2.5% (XOM). Shares of Chevron (CVX) gained 3.4%.
Other companies to post increases Monday included Verizon (VZ), which was up 2.8%; Microsoft (MSFT), which rose 2.2%; Goldman Sachs (GS), which gained 1.8%; and General Electric (GE), which jumped 1.34%.
Crude oil futures gained 2.8% Monday to $49.57 a barrel after rising another 8.3% increase Friday. The S&P 500 Energy Index kicked off the week Monday by adding 1.7%.
Correction: An early version of this story incorrectly said the Dow Jones Index gained 96 points Monday. In fact, it rose 196 points.
