Wall St. up as oil lifts Exxon

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Tuesday as crude oil prices lifted shares of energy companies including Exxon Mobil Corp , while Wal-Mart Stores Inc's stronger-than-expected profit buoyed hopes about consumer spending.

Exxon shares rose more than 2 percent on the New York Stock Exchange while those of Chevron Corp climbed almost 2 percent after the oil company debuted on the Dow Jones industrial average. Wal-Mart shares inched up 1.5 percent.

"You've had a big move in oil over the last few days. We're almost back to $100 a barrel and that's what drives most things up," said Stephen Massocca, co-chief executive, San Francisco-based investment bank Pacific Growth Equities.

"Wal-Mart wasn't a disaster. It was moderately good news."

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 76.44 points, or 0.62 percent, at 12,424.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 7.72 points, or 0.57 percent, at 1,357.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 10.24 points, or 0.44 percent, at 2,332.04.

Exxon shares rose to $87.46, while Chevron climbed to $85.03. The stocks were the two biggest boosters to the Dow and S&P 500 indexes. Wal-Mart shares rose to $50.18.

U.S. crude for March delivery jumped sharply above $98 a barrel on supply concerns following Monday's Texas refinery fire, a weak dollar, concerns about supply from Venezuela, Nigeria and Russia and expectations that OPEC will not increase production at its March meeting.

On the Nasdaq, shares of Microsoft Corp led advancers with a gain of 1.02 percent to $26.60 following a report by the New York Times saying the software maker will authorize a proxy fight at Yahoo Inc to press ahead with its takeover battle for the Internet media company.

But even with the gains, by midday the stock market was well off its best levels seen right after the open. Lingering concerns about the profit outlook for financial services companies and fears of more write-downs pressured shares of banks and others.

Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co slipped 1.9 percent to $42.41 on the NYSE.

Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, reported quarterly results that topped analysts' expectations as cost-conscious consumers shopped for discounted goods at the world's biggest retailer.

Other earnings news that lifted the market included higher-than-expected quarterly earnings from pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions Inc , which helped lift shares of its rivals. Medco shares rose 4.7 percent to $51.28 Express Scripts shares were up 4.2 percent to $66.40.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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