Falling Oil Prices Push Stocks Higher

NEW YORK – Changes in the insurance industry and a welcome drop in oil prices cheered Wall Street, sending stocks higher in early trading Tuesday.

Investors were also pleased by Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.’s efforts to resolve investigations into its business operations, sending the stock substantially higher after the insurer dumped its chief executives.

Oil futures fell for a second straight session, giving investors hope that the recent runup in crude prices may have run its course. A barrel of light crude oil was quoted at $54.23, down 31 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 22.49, or 0.2 percent, to 9,772.48.

Broader stock indicators were modestly higher. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 2.20, or 0.2 percent, at 1,097.00, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 0.85, or 0.04 percent, to 1,914.89.

Wall Street was also waiting for the Conference Board’s latest reading of consumer confidence, due later in the morning. Consumer confidence has suffered in recent months due to a lack of job growth and high energy prices, and investors fear that if the trend continues, consumers may not spend as much during the critical holiday retail season.

Investors hoped the insurance sector would get a boost after Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. replaced its chief executive and announced a series of reforms in hopes of appeasing New York’s attorney general, who is in the midst of a bid-rigging investigation of the company. Marsh & McLennan surged $1.69 to $28.11.

In earnings news, DuPont fell 27 cents to $41.91 after the chemical company swung to a profit in the third quarter despite higher raw materials costs. DuPont, which beat Wall Street expectations by a penny per share, also reiterated its full-year profit outlook, though some investors worried that materials and energy costs would eventually sap the company’s profits.

Lockheed Martin said its growing information technology business helped offset a slumping space division and helped the company post a 41 percent jump in earnings. The aerospace giant, which beat analysts’ forecasts by 4 cents per share, issued a tepid full-year outlook, however. Lockheed Martin slipped 21 cents to $53.29.

General Electric backed Wall Street’s view of its fourth-quarter and full-year profit forecasts, citing strength across the conglomerate’s various divisions. GE rose 11 cents to $33.01.

Halliburton Co. gained 75 cents to $35.10 even as the company swung to a loss, weighed down by continued asbestos claims settlements. Without the one-time losses, the company would have exceeded profit forecasts by 6 cents per share.

U.S. Steel Corp. returned to profitability in the third quarter, blowing past Wall Street profit forecasts by 58 cents per share thanks to higher demand. The company also said it expects a strong fourth quarter. U.S. Steel was up 41 cents at $36.26.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 0.62, or 0.1 percent, at 571.05.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.12 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent, Germany’s DAX index gained 0.2 percent, and France’s CAC-40 climbed 0.23 percent.

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