Oil Prices Surge, Fueling Gains in ETFs

A sharp spike in oil prices helped push both stocks and exchange-traded funds higher Wednesday.

Oil rose $3.23 in regular Wednesday trading, closing at $72.42. As a result, energy-oriented ETFs saw some of the biggest gains among unleveraged funds.

The surge in crude prices helped turned around an earlier selloff, which was prompted by a selloff in China’s market. The Shanghai Composite lost 4.3%, and is now down about 20% since its Aug. 4 peak.

In a market full of mixed indicators, many of them negative, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) initially dipped after the computer maker reported a 19% decline in quarterly earnings after the market closed Tuesday. CEO Mark Hurd said business was stabilizing and revenue prospects from Asia were a bright spot, but traders remained concerned about European sales and the company’s ability to grow sustainably.

Shares of farm-equipment maker Deere (DE) dropped after it said it forecast earnings for the year in-line with Wall Street expectations.

The S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index fund (OIL) rose 3.5% Wednesday on rising energy prices, as did the United States Oil fund (USO), which picked up 3.4%.

The S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index (VXX) swung 3.2% lower as major indexes went through a sharp midday reversal. The iShares Cohen & Steers Realty Majors Index fund (ICF) slipped 1.1%

Earnings and Conference Calls
1-800-Flowers.com, Aeropostale, Baldwin Technology, Barnes & Noble, Bon-Ton Stores, Brocade Communications Systems, Children's Place Retail Stores, Dick's Sporting Goods, Foot Locker, Gamestop, Gap, H.J. Heinz, Harris Interactive, Hormel Foods, Intuit, Jamba Juice, LifeCycle Pharma, Mentor Graphics, Open Text, Pacific Sunwear of California, Patterson Dental, Rio Tinto, Ross Stores. Salesforce.com, ScanSourcem School Specialty, Sears Holdings, Stein Mart, Suntech Power Holdings, Wet Seal, Zumiez

Economic Data
8:30 a.m. Jobless Claims
10:00 a.m. Leading Indicators
10:00 a.m. Philadelphia Fed Survey
10:30 a.m. EIA Natural Gas Survey
4:30 p.m. Fed Balance Sheet