Dow jumps 124 as crude oil eases

Updated: 10 p.m. ET

Stocks rallied strongly today after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was said to be considering boosting production to replace Libyan oil.

Light sweet crude in New York settled down 68 cents to $105.02 a barrel. Crude had been down as low as $103.33  but started to move higher after OPEC said it wouldn't hold an emergency meeting on the issue. Gold and silver were lower as well.

The Dow Jones industrials ($INDU), meanwhile, closed up 124 points, or 1%, to 12,214, led by Bank of America's (BAC) 4.7% gain to $14.69. The blue chips had been up as many as 160 points at noon ET. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) added 12 points, or 0.9%, to 1,322. The Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) added 20 points, or 0.7%, to 2,766.

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Shares of Sprint Nextel (S) were up 4.7% to $4.69 on reports that the telecommunications company had held talks with Deutsche Telekom (DT) about buying the latter's T-Mobile USA mobile phone business.

Bank of America was the top performer among the 30 Dow stocks after CEO Brian Moynihan said the bank hopes to raise its dividend in the second half of the year and go substantially higher in 2012 or 2013 as it gets its mortgage business under control.

Moynihan's comments set off a surge in financial stocks, which were the market's strongest sector. Airlines and and industrial stocks also were higher. Energy shares were the laggards.

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Wednesday's market will be affected by a government report on oil inventories and a report mortgage applications. Earnings are due from Jo-Ann Stores (JAS) and Molycorp (MCP).

Oil, however, is running the stock market for now. If oil goes up, stocks will fall. Late Tuesday, crude oil was down slightly at at $104.52 a barrel. Futures trading suggests a flat open for stocks.

Gold slips, but silver and cotton are higher
While crude in the United States was lower today, Brent crude oil, the North Sea benchmark, was lower. It was quoted down $2.53 at $113.05 this afternoon.

Retail gasoline prices moved higher. AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report said gasoline nationally was averaging $3.517 a gallon today, up from Monday's $3.509.

Gold settled down $7.30 to $1,427.20 an ounce, as commodities mostly pulled back after a big rally on Monday. Silver settled down 20.7 cents to $35.658 an an ounce. Copper was up slightly at $4.339 a pound. Grains and cotton were lower. Interest rates were up slightly, with the 10-year Treasury yield hitting 3.544%, up from Monday's 3.497%.

The dollar was higher against major currencies.

Oil declined after Kuwait's oil minister said OPEC members were considering whether to convene an "urgent meeting." The losses were trimmed as fighting continued in Libya. Opponents of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi were trying to to recapture Bin Jawad, an important oil port.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America/Merrill Lynch raised their oil-price forecasts. On Monday, Goldman raised its second-quarter outlook for Brent crude by $4.50 to $105 a barrel.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch increased its Brent crude price forecast for this year to $108 a barrel from $88 and for next year to $95 a barrel from $85.

The Energy Information Agency boosted its 2011 forecast for crude oil, saying it would average $105 a barrel this year. That's up $14 from the agency's forecast in early February.

Energy prices -- New York close
Crude oil			$105.02			$105.44			8.30%			14.93%
(per barrel)
Heating oil			$3.0111			$3.0657			2.27%			18.37%
(per gallon)
Natural gas			$3.8640			$3.9270			-4.55%			-12.28%
(per mil. BTU)
Unleaded gasoline			$2.9467			$3.0039			-4.55%			-12.28%
(per gallon)
Brent crude			$113.06			$115.04			1.13%			19.32%
(per barrel)
Retail gasoline			$3.5170			$3.5090			4.42%			14.49%
(per gallon; AAA)

Will Sprint and T-Mobile become one?
Sprint Nextel shares rose after sources said Deutsche Telekom was willing to sell its T-Mobile USA unit to the company in exchange for a major stake in the combined entity.

Meanwhile, McDonald's (MCD) fell 1% to $75.54 and was the laggard among the Dow stocks. Analysts had expected a 3.6% increase in U.S. same-store sales; the company reported a 2.7% gain.  

Urban Outfitters (URBN) plunged 16.7% $31.66, the most in the S&P 500, after the clothing-chain operator reported earnings that fell short of projections.

Homebuilders were up sharply after Pultegroup (PHM), the largest homebuilder, said orders for the first two months of 2011 were up 11% from a year ago. Pultegroup was up 8.4% to $7.09. D.R. Horton (DHI) added 4.9% to $11.89.

Thanks to lower oil prices, Delta Air Lines (DAL), up 9.7% to $11.07, was the top performer of stocks in the Dow Jones Transportation Average ($DJT). The index was up 129 points, or 2.6%, to 5,147.

American Airlines parent AMR (AMR) was up 7.1% to $6.65. Southwest Airlines (LUV) added 7.6% to $12.66 after reporting a 13% increase in February traffic.

Of the 30 Dow stocks, 28 were higher. American Express (AXP), up 3.5% to $45.24, and JPMorgan Chase (JPM), up 2.7% to $46.40, were the best performers after Bank of America. The losers were Intel (INTC) , down 0.4% to $21.13, and McDonald's.

Eighty-five Nasdaq-100 ($NDX.X) stocks were higher, led by Cephalon (CEPH), up 3.4% to $57.19. Apple (AAPL), up 0.1% to $355.76, contributed 1 point to the Nasdaq-100's gain today. The index, which tracks the largest Nasdaq stocks, was up 9 points, or 0.4%,  to 2,338.

Stocks making waves
Brown-Forman (BF.B), up 4.8% to $70.67. The maker of Jack Daniel’s whiskey and Finlandia vodka increased its full-year forecast, saying it expects earnings, excluding some items, of at least $3.35 a share. That topped the consensus estimate of $3.31.

Broadsoft (BSFT), up 36.1% to $47.50, the biggest gainer among Russell 2000 ($RUT.X) stocks. The maker of telecommunications software said first-quarter earnings may be as much as 11 cents a share; analysts have been looking for 9 cents. Revenue will be at least $27 million, also exceeding the projections.

Casey’s General Stores (CASY), down 7% to $37.71. The Midwestern convenience-store operator posted third-quarter earnings that missed the Street estimate.

Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), up 6% to $39.94. The nation's largest sporting-goods retailer forecast earnings of as much as $1.91 a share in 2011, more than the average analyst estimate of $1.86.

TiVo (TIVO), down 3.4% to $8.75. The digital-video recording pioneer said it will offer $120 million of convertible senior notes due 2016 in a private offering.

Short hits from the markets -- New York close
			Tues.			Mon.			Month chg.			YTD chg.
Treasury yields
13-week Treasury bill			0.120%			0.100%			-14.29%			0.00%
5-year Treasury note			2.212%			2.180%			3.51%			9.72%
10-year Treasury note			3.544%			3.497%			3.81%			7.23%
30-year Treasury bond			4.658%			4.608%			3.74%			6.79%
Currencies
U.S. Dollar Index			76.800			76.514			-0.16%			-3.14%
British pound			$1.6158			$1.6213			-0.76%			3.54%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. $ in pounds			£0.619			£0.617			0.77%			-3.42%
Euro in dollars			$1.389			$1.397			0.44%			3.81%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. $ in euros			€ 0.720			€ 0.716			-0.44%			-3.67%
U.S. $ in yen			82.919			82.290			1.00%			1.91%
U.S. $ in Chinese			6.593			6.553			0.02%			-0.33%
yuan
Canada dollar			$1.028			$1.028			-0.20%			2.44%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. dollar			$0.974			$0.973			0.23%			-2.34%
(in Canadian $)
Commodities
Gold			$1,427.20			$1,434.50			0.92%			0.41%
(per troy ounce)
Copper			$4.339			$4.327			-2.94%			-2.44%
(per pound)
Silver			$35.658			$35.865			5.08%			15.26%
(per troy ounce)
Wheat			$7.7975			$8.0075			-4.85%			-1.83%
(per bushel)
Corn			$7.0550			$7.1750			-3.49%			13.33%
(per bushel)
Cotton			$2.0714			$1.9123			0.97%			43.04%
(per pound)
Crude oil			$105.02			$105.44			8.30%			14.93%
(per barrel)