By Joseph Adinolfi and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Stock-market indexes seek to prune weekly decline

U.S. stocks extended their gains Friday afternoon as battered bank and energy shares led a rebound at the end of a tumultuous week.

J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) and Goldman Sachs Group (GS) were the two top performers on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as the financial group was buttressed by Deutsche Bank AG's announcement that it would repurchase (http://www.wsj.com/articles/deutsche-bank-to-buy-back-5-4-billion-in-debt-securities-1455284761) $5.4 billion of its senior unsecured debt, analysts said.

"[Banks] are in much better shape than the market is interpreting at this stage," said chief executive officer of Bruderman Brothers.

Adding to upswing were sharp gains in West Texas Intermediate crude , which soared 12%, while Brent crude prices jumped 8.8%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was recently up 260 points, or 1.7%, at 15,919, while the S&P 500 index had gained 28.79 points, or 1.6%, to 1,857. Financial shares were up 3.5%, making that group the best performing sector on the S&P, followed by materials, up 2.5%, and energy, up 2.1%. Every sector except for utilities was in the green.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (NDAQ) rose 59.67 points, or 1.4%, to 4,326.

Pursche said Friday's recovery was a repudiation of excessive pessimism after a brutal week of trading. "Market sentiment has gotten so bearish that it's just overdone," he said.

Stocks also benefited from a strong reading on consumer spending. Retail sales rose 0.2% in January (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/retail-sales-increase-02-in-january-2016-02-12), beating expectations for a 0.1% increase from a survey of economists polled by MarketWatch, while the 0.1% decline initially reported for December was revised to show 0.2% growth.

The retail-sales figures suggest consumer confidence is on the rise despite the recent volatility in global stock markets. "We've been witnessing a steady increase in consumer confidence against a backdrop of doom and gloom," said Jack Albin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank.

Stocks had an initial negative reaction to a survey from the University of Michigan (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-sentiment-weakens-in-february-university-of-michigan-says-2016-02-12) showed consumer sentiment has softened in February, largely due to a drop in its expectations component.

Despite Friday's gains, U.S. stocks will likely finish the week in the red after Thursday's sharp selloff, when Dow industrials ended at a two-year low (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-futures-sink-more-than-200-points-as-global-rout-gains-pace-2016-02-11) and the S&P 500 index closed at its weakest level since April 2014.

Read:5 signs we might already be in a bear market (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/here-are-5-signs-we-might-already-be-in-a-bear-market-2016-02-11)

A recovery in oil prices helped boost energy shares and boost investors' appetite for risky assets, analysts said. Oil rallied (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-rally-5-after-more-jawboning-from-opec-members-2016-02-12) after the United Arab Emirates's energy minister said late Thursday that the Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries was ready to cooperate on production cuts.

Other markets: In Europe, stocks finished sharply higher (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-finding-relief-but-weekly-slide-appears-intact-2016-02-12), with the Stoxx Europe 600 index rebounding after falling to a two-year low on Thursday. The sentiment was more downbeat in Asia, where Japan's Nikkei 225 index slumped 4.8% to end with the worst weekly drop since 2008 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/japan-stocks-plunge-to-lowest-point-in-more-than-a-year-2016-02-11).

Gold gave up some gains (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-prices-slip-as-investors-embrace-risk-assets-2016-02-12) after it jumped to its highest finish in a year (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-jumps-to-1-year-high-as-global-market-rout-spurs-safe-haven-buying-2016-02-11) on Thursday. The dollar advanced against the euro and the yen .

Fed: New York Fed President William Dudley said the U.S. economy is well-suited to absorb any shocks that might come along during a speech on household borrowing and indebtedness.

Read:Have central banks lost market credibility? (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-this-the-week-central-banks-lost-their-market-credibility-2016-02-11)

Movers and shakers: Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. climbed after CEO Jamie Dimon bought 500,000 of his bank's shares for $26 million (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ceo-jamie-dimon-bets-on-jp-morgan-chase-to-the-tune-of-26-million-2016-02-11) on Thursday. The purchase is meant to stem the negative sentiment clobbering bank stocks this year.

Groupon Inc.(GRPN) surged more than 31% after it beat expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/groupon-swings-to-loss-results-beat-projections-2016-02-11) late Thursday.

Pandora Media Inc.(P) fell 14.7% as investors disapproved of plans to invest in an on-demand music service (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pandoras-spending-plans-dismay-investors-2016-02-11).

Freeport-McMoran Inc. (FCX) rose 13%, making it one of the largest gainers on the S&P 500, after it agreed to sell one of its subsidiaries to U.S. Energy Corp.

Wynn Resorts (WYNN) rose 15% to led the S&P 500 after strong revenue growth was reported in the company's Las Vegas operations.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 12, 2016 15:00 ET (20:00 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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