MID-SESSION
US shares on Wednesday extended a rally seen since Friday as oversold stocks and energy companies were in vogue on the back of buoyant US manufacturing data and oil prices rising above US$30.
The Nasdaq Composite led the gains with a 2.2% advance to 4,532.13, the S&P500 up 1.63% at 1,926.56, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.56% at 16,448.56.
US manufacturing output rose last month at its fastest rate since July 2015 - in a sign that industry is overcoming the knock to confidence seen since mid-2015 in the wake of pressure for Fed rates to be hiked.
Oil prices rebounded too, with the West Texas Intermediate up a hefty 6.3% at US$30.87 - above US$30 a barrel for the first time in nearly two weeks.
Among the risers this session:
Fossil Group (NASDAQ:FOSL) up over 27% to US$43.85 after posting fourth quarter earnings, which came out after hours, and smashed expectations.
Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) up 14% at US$40.21 after the GPS device and wearable fitness product maker beat estimates posting fourth quarter earnings.
Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) up 11% at US$17.34 after news late Tuesday that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns 26.5mln shares as the savvy investor showed faith in the oil industry besieged by crude prices at around 12-year lows.
Concho Resources (NYSE:CXO) up 8.8% at US$95.89 after news it will join the S&P 500, replacing Plum Creek Timber (NYSE:PCL). The energy exploration company join S&P500 after Friday's close, when Plum Creek's acquisition by Weyerhaeuser is due to complete. Plum Creek's shares were up 2% at US$38.75.
And the fallers included:
Cerner (NASDAQ:CERN) down 5.6% at US$52.34 after giving an earnings forecast for the current quarter that was short of estimates, following weaker-than-expected fourth quarter bookings.
Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) down 7% at US$19.79 after second quarter revenue missed by a substantial margin. The oil producer also slashed its quarterly dividend by three-quarters to 6 cents per share, and cut exploration spending by 75%. Downbeat oil prices also mean 20% of staff are being laid off.
Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) down 5.3% at US$15.9935 after fourth quarter 2015 revenues delivered below forecast.
OPEN
US shares joined European counterparts to go higher at the open as traders were cheered by decent manufacturing data and the price of oil.
Manufacturing output in the US rose last month by the most, since July, 2015, giving more weight to the argument that America is finding its feet and growing.
The 0.5% advance at factories followed a 0.2% decrease in December, the official Fed stats showed.
However, the oil price slow down is weighing on the mining sector, which includes drilling for the black gold, and all drilling activity in the US dropped 5.9% last month.
Spot West Texas Intermediate is up over 2% at US$29.87 at the time of writing.
In the markets, the Dow Jones is up 180 at 16,377. The S&P500 is up 21 at 1,918 and the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite Index is 59 ahead at 4,496.
In London, FTSE 100 is 129 points, or 2.2% ahead at 5,991- nudging back to the 6,000 level.
In stocks, Fossil Group (NASDAQ:FOSL) was up over 26% as earnings smashed expectations on Tuesday. Net sales for the fourth quarter came in at US$992.5 million, which beat the expectation for US$928.2 million.
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PREVIEW
US shares are poised to extend gains mid-week as traders await a raft of US data and the oil price rises.
Stocks on Wall Street have gained over the last two days and yesterday the benchmark Dow closed gained 1.4% higher, or 222 points at 16,196.
The broader S&P500 added 31 at 1,896 and the Nasdaq gained 98 at 4,436.
In futures trading, the Dow Jones is trading 97 points ahead; the S&P500 is over 12 higher and the tech heavy Nasdaq composite index is over 26 points higher.
Macro data stateside expected is the January's producer price index later this morning and the Fed's update on industrial production and capacity utilization in January.
And then the Fed will release the minutes from its latest policy meeting at 2 p.m. Investors will parse through these documents for any clues about the Fed's plans for rate hikes in 2016.
In oil, US crude - the West Texas Intermediate - is 2% higher at US£29.63 a barrel as talk of curtailing output has lifted prices.
The current OPEC president is heading to Tehran today, reportedly, to discuss a plan to cap crude production with ministers from Iran, Venezuela and Iraq.
In London, Footsie is 93 points ahead while the price of gold is also firmer , up 0.11% to US$1,209 an ounce.
David Madden, at spreadbetter IG, said: "A relatively calm overnight session in Asia has helped equity markets in Europe continue their rally that begun nearly a week ago.
"The major sell-off in global stock markets in 2016 has made shares very cheap, but previously traders have been cautious to go long for fear of another sharp decline."
In company news, Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX), and Jack In The Box (NYSE: JACK) release earnings this afternoon.