Stock Rallied at Open, Oil Prices Headed Higher

U.S. stocks opened sharply higher on Tuesday, shaking off fears over the deadly coronavirus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 446.69 points, or 1.57%, to 28,846.50. The S&P 500 gained 45.02 points, or 1.39%, to 3,293.94. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 132.27 points, or 1.43%, to 9,405.67.

Oil futures headed higher Tuesday morning as investors bet that OPEC and its members will agree to deeper production cuts to stem a coronavirus-inspired tumble in the commodity that entered a bear market a day ago. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up 85 cents, or 1.7%, at $50.96 a barrel. April Brent crude picked up 46 cents, or 0.8%, at $54.91 a barrel.