Wall St. climbs after three-day drop; Citigroup up after results

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were up in late afternoon trading on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 recovering from a three-day losing streak that was its worst since November 2011.

The benchmark S&P has fallen in five of the prior six sessions, giving up most of its gains for the year, while the Dow has fallen into negative territory for 2014 as investors have reacted to a host of negative catalysts including the potential spread of Ebola, the effect of global economic weakness on U.S. earnings, and plunging oil prices.

The S&P 500 is up just 1.7 percent since Dec. 31, having lost more than 5 percent since its record closing high on Sept. 18.

"It was disappointing to see the gains we've had over nine months dissipate so quickly," said Larry Peruzzi, senior equity trader at Cabrera Capital Markets Inc in Boston.

"If this market doesn't calm down and we continue to see sentiment turn negative, it could set up for a difficult period over the next two months," he said.

While up, indexes were well off their highs for the session as energy shares extended their recent slide along with oil prices. The S&P energy index <.SPNY> was down 0.1 percent for the day and 8.5 percent for the year.

Early third-quarter earnings reports have been mixed, but CITIGROUP (C.NY), up 2.7 percent at $51.26, was among the top boosts to the benchmark S&P index after the bank posted better-than-expected quarterly results and said it would pull out of consumer banking in 11 markets.

JPMorgan Chase shares lost 0.3 percent to $58, after the biggest U.S. bank reported a lower-than-expected third-quarter profit. Wells Fargo , the fourth largest U.S. bank, lost 1.1 percent to $49.65 after its results.

The S&P financial index <.SPSY> gained 1 percent. Eight of the 10 major S&P sectors were in positive territory, led by industrials <.SPLRCI>, up 1.9 percent.

The S&P 500 index on Monday closed below its 200-day moving average for the first time since Nov. 16, 2012, and is now 5.6 percent below its record closing high on Sept. 18.

S&P 500 companies are expected to show earnings growth of 6.4 percent in the third quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data, with 4 percent revenue growth expected. After the close, Dow component and chipmaker Intel is set to post results.

At 2:50 p.m. Eastern time, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 65.8 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,386.87, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 11.88 points, or 0.63 percent, to 1,886.62 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 30.42 points, or 0.72 percent, to 4,244.07.

The largest percentage gainer on the S&P 500 was Delta Air Lines , which rose 6.2 percent, while the largest percentage decliner was Gilead , down 4.4 percent.

Advancing issues were outnumbering declining ones on the NYSE by 2,068 to 983, for a 2.10-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,785 issues were rising and 884 falling for a 2.02-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The S&P 500 index was posting 10 new 52-week highs and 23 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 19 new highs and 153 new lows.

(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Nick Zieminski and Chris Reese)

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