Stocks rise as energy companies, banks regain lost ground

USA Women's Olympic Water Polo Goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson holds her gold medal as she poses for photos outside the New York Stock Exchange, before ringing the opening bell, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

USA Women's Olympic Water Polo Goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson holds her gold medal as he jumps, while posing for photos outside the New York Stock Exchange, before ringing the opening bell, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Stocks rose in morning trading on Wall Street Tuesday as energy companies and banks clawed back some of the ground they lost a day earlier.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 10:14 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 142 points, or 0.4%, to 35,244 and the Nasdaq rose 0.1%.

Oil prices pulled up after sliding most of the last week and into Monday. U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 3.2% and helped lift energy stocks. Exxon Mobil rose 1.1%.

Bond yields edged higher and nudged banks higher. Banks benefit from higher yields allowing them to charge more interest on loans. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.33% from 1.31% late Monday.

The broader market remains choppy with investors in the midst of a relatively quiet week. The latest round of corporate earnings is nearly finished and there are only a few pieces of economic data expected.

The lull in activity comes as Wall Street is still trying to gauge the pace of economic growth amid new worries about the latest wave of COVID-19 from the more contagious delta variant. Parts of Japan, including Tokyo, the capital, remain under a state of emergency as surging numbers of infections put more COVID-19 patients in already overburdened hospitals.

Inflation concerns and the Federal Reserve's future plans to ease up on its support for low interest rates also hangs over the markets.

Earnings season is wrapping up with several big names. AMC Entertainment, which was battered by movie theater closures during the pandemic, rose 6.7% after reporting surprisingly good second-quarter results.

Ebay will report its results on Wednesday and Walt Disney will report results on Thursday.

Kansas City Southern jumped 7.2% after Canadian Pacific raised its offer for the railroad operator, reigniting a bidding war with Canadian National.