US stocks move higher; Energy leads as oil price rebounds

Stocks are moving higher in midday trading as investors respond to strong earnings from U.S. companies.

Nike rose 5 percent and Darden Restaurants gained 3 percent Friday after reporting results that beat analysts’ expectations.

Energy companies rose more than the rest of the market as the price of oil turned higher.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 180 points, or 1 percent, to 18,141 as of 11:45 a.m.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 19 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,108.

The Nasdaq composite rose 42 points, or 0.9 percent, to 5,034. The Nasdaq is within 14 points of its dot-com era peak.

Crude oil rose $1.41 to $46.95 a barrel in New York.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.94 percent.

This story was originally published March 20, 2015 at 11:04 AM with the headline "US stocks move higher; Energy leads as oil price rebounds."