Stocks Up, Led by Tech, Energy Gains

(AP) -- Stocks moved higher in early trading Monday, led by gains in big technology companies, which have had a rough start to the year. Energy stocks also did well in the early going as the price of oil turned higher after sliding to its lowest level in 12 years the day before.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average gained 104 points, or about 0.6 percent, to 16,503 as of 10:08 a.m. Eastern Time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 13 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,937. The Nasdaq composite climbed 54 points, or 1.2 percent, to 4,692. The Nasdaq, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, has fallen for the past eight trading days.

ROUGH START: Deepening fears about a protracted slowdown in China's economy coupled with worries about Beijing's ability to manage its financial markets have kept investors on edge after sharp losses last week. A steep downturn in crude oil prices has also weighed on the market. The three major U.S. stock indexes are all down for the year, with the Dow and S&P 500 index off about 5 percent, while the Nasdaq is down 6 percent.

HEALTHY GAINS: Several health care companies were among the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 index in early trading. Anthem rose $7.36, or 4.7 percent, to $135.78, while Tenet Healthcare added $1.16, or 4.5 percent, to $26.94. Aetna gained $4.13, or 3.9 percent, to $109.16.

HOLIDAY BOOST: Lululemon Athletica vaulted 11.3 percent after the athletic clothing retailer raised its earnings guidance citing strong holiday season sales. The stock rose $6.11 to $60.89.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH: Alcoa slid 4.9 percent after the aluminum manufacturer's latest quarterly results included revenue that fell short of Wall Street's expectations. The stock dropped 39 cents to $7.61.

GAME OVER: Video game retailer GameStop sank 8.1 percent, the worst performer in the S&P 500 index. Thestock lost $2.38 to $27.

OVERSEAS: European markets moved higher. Germany's DAX was up 2.4 percent, while the CAC-40 in France rose 2.4 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 1.8 percent. In Asia, China's Shanghai composite closed 0.2 percent higher, recovering some of its losses from the day before. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.7 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.9 percent, while South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.2 percent.

YUAN MOVES: China's tightly controlled currency, which was the source of last week's market turmoil after authorities guided it sharply lower, was little changed. However, interbank rates spiked for the offshore yuan, which is freely traded in Hong Kong, leading many to believe China's central bank is intervening in the market in order to foil speculators trying to drive it lower.

ENERGY: A day after slumping 5.3 percent, the price of U.S. crude oil slipped another 21 cents to $31.19 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, fell 15 cents to $31.73 a barrel in London.

BONDS AND CURRENCIES: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.16 percent from 2.17 percent late Monday. The euro fell to $1.0852 from $1.0871 a day earlier and the dollar rose to 117.78 yen from 117.53 yen.

(KA)