Stocks Higher to Start New Year

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stock indexes are jumping at the start of the first trading day of 2017. Energy companies are climbing with the price of oil, while banks are advancing thanks to a bump in interest rates. Those two sectors were the best-performing parts of the market in 2016.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average leaped 122 points, or 0.6 percent, to 19,884 as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 15 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,253. The Nasdaq composite added 38 points, or 0.7 percent, to 5,420. The Russell 2000 index, which is made up of small-company stocks, jumped 9 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,366. The Russell rose almost 20 percent last year and did far better than indexes focused on larger companies. U.S. stocks are coming off a three-day losing streak.

OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude gained $1.33, or 2.5 percent, to $55.05 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose $1.37, or 2.4 percent, to $58.19 a barrel in London. That sent energy companies higher. Marathon Petroleum surged $2.74, or 5.4 percent, to $53.09 and Halliburton added $1.82, or 3.4 percent, to $55.91. Natural gas futures dropped 7.5 percent.

BONDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.50 percent from 2.43 percent late Friday. Higher bond yields are linked to higher interest rates, and bank stocks made big gains. Citigroup rose 96 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $60.39 and Morgan Stanley picked up 78 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $43.04. Banks and energy companies both climbed more than 20 percent last year.

Utilities, real estate investment trusts and companies that make and sell household goods traded lower. Those stocks are often compared to bonds because they pay large dividends, but the jump in yields Tuesday encouraged investors to look elsewhere.

COPY THAT: Xerox surged 78 cents, or 14 percent, to $6.52 after it said it split itself in two, a move the company announced almost a year ago. The original Xerox kept its printer and copier business. The second company will focus on business process outsourcing, providing payment processing and other services. Xerox will receive $1.8 billion in cash.

The new company, Conduent Inc., now trades under the ticker symbol "CNDT." That stock lost 93 cents, or 7 percent, to $13.92 in early trading.

CURRENCIES: The dollar jumped to 118.12 yen from 116.78 yen. The euro slumped to $1.0403 from $1.0531.

OVERSEAS: The FTSE 100 index in Britain rose 0.7 percent and the French CAC 40 added 0.5 percent. Germany's DAX inched up 0.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.7 percent and the Kospi in South Korea rose 0.9 percent. Tokyo's stock market remained closed for the New Year's holiday.

(KA)