Apple and Amazon push S&P 500 over 1 percent higher

Oil Prices bounced back Tuesday, with both the USA oil and Brent crude jumping over 2 percent, as traders expected US crude stockpiles to decrease for another week. Live dollar index data indicate the ICE US Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar's value against a basket of six major currencies, edged lower 0.02% to 97.96. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.4 percent.

With two trading sessions left in 2015, the S&P 500 was up nearly 1 per cent for the year, while the Nasdaq Composite was up nearly 8 per cent. The Dow Jones industrial average, however, was down about 0.6 per cent for the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 192.71 points, or 1.10 percent, to 17,720.98. The tentative outlook is negative. The tentative outlook is positive.

The Canadian market was closed Monday for the Boxing Day holiday.

The S&P 500 index added 21.86 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 2,078.36. The Conference Board said the consumer confidence index rose to 96.5 from a revised 92.6 in November, which was the lowest level since July. Shares in energy companies Repsol, Total, oil services company Technip and offshore drilling contractor Seadrill dropped between 1.7 %and 5.3 %.

Tuesday's activity was a partial reflection of the year, with investors piling into the three top-performing S&P 500 industry groups in 2015 - consumer discretionary, health-care and technology.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February rose 2.9% to finish at $37.87 a barrel.

Volume on USA exchanges was 5.0 billion shares, compared to a 7.5 billion average over the last 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rose 1.5% to $794.00 after hitting an all-time high of $798.69, while Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) advanced 2.8% to $693.79 after touching a record high of $696.44.

Oil was being weighed down by news that Saudi Arabia was planning to cut its public budget to combat a prolonged slump as well as reports that Iran plans to up exports by 500,000 barrels a day once economic sanctions are removed. Lower oil prices put the pace of global growth in question and could translate to lackluster earnings, he added.

Stocks are getting a lift today from a rebound in U.S.-produced crude prices, after another selloff Monday.