Stocks Rally on Cliff Optimism

U.S. stocks climbed on Tuesday, putting the S&P 500 on track for its best two-day run in a month, as investors gained confidence in ‘fiscal cliff’ talks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 115.57 points, or 0.87%, to 13,350.96. The S&P 500 index advanced 16.43 points, or 1.15%, to 1,446.79. The Nasdaq Composite added 43.93 points, or 1.46%, to 3,054.53.

Shares of Oracle Corp. rose late Tuesday after the company beat Wall Street estimates with solid gains in software business.  The company reported a fiscal second-quarter profit of $2.58 billion, or 53 cents a share, compared with a profit of $2.19 billion, or 43 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $9.1 billion, up from $8.8 billion. Adjusted profit was 64 cents a share.

Crude-oil supplies fell by 4.1 million barrels for the week ended Dec. 14, according to a report from the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday. Gasoline inventories rose by 4.2 million barrels and distillate stocks fell by 1.9 million barrels, the report from the trade group said.