NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks broke a two-day losing streak Wednesday as investors bought up drugmakers and other health care companies. Energy companies also jumped as the price of oil surged.
Biotech drug companies, which have been mired in a long slide, made their biggest gains in almost five years. That came after Pfizer, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, gave up on a plan to buy Botox maker Allergan for $160 billion and investors wondered if it will look elsewhere.
The gains were only enough to wipe out most of the market's losses from a day earlier. Stocks wavered in recent weeks as investors wait for quarterly earnings to start pouring in, and many are bracing for another shaky quarter.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 112.73 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,716.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 21.49 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,066.66. The Nasdaq composite index picked up 76.78 points, or 1.6 percent, to 4,920.72.