Stock market looks for a comfort zone

NEW YORK - A late rally led by energy companies pushed U.S. stock indexes higher Monday after the market flitted between small gains and losses for most of the day.

Exxon Mobil rose 2.5 percent after reporting better-than-expected earnings. Chevron jumped 3.4 percent. Both companies are included in the Dow Jones industrial average.

The market got a lift in early trading after European markets climbed following reassuring comments from France on Greece's efforts to ease the terms of its financial rescue program.

At midmorning, a closely watched monthly report revealed that U.S. manufacturing expanded last month at the slowest pace in a year. Also, the Commerce Department reported that consumer spending edged 0.3 percent lower in December as vehicle sales slowed and more Americans chose to save rather than spend.

The Standard and Poor's 500 index rose 25.86 points, or 1.30 percent, to 2,020.85. The Dow added 196.09 points, or 1.14 percent, to 17,361.04. The Nasdaq composite rose 41.45 points, or 0.89 percent, to 4,676.69.

U.S. crude oil rose $1.33 to close at $49.57 a barrel in New York, its highest level in nearly a month. Traders bet that oil has bottomed out despite signs of rising inventories and a refinery strike that may shrink crude consumption. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose $1.76 to close at $54.75 a barrel in London.

Energy companies rose 3 percent, the biggest gain among the 10 sectors in the S&P 500. Among the big winners, Denbury Resources jumped 12 percent and Chesapeake Energy rose 7 percent.

Investors will turn their attention next to several big companies reporting this week, including United Parcel Service and Disney on Tuesday, and General Motors on Wednesday.

With about half the companies in the S&P 500 index already out with their results, earnings for companies in the index are expected to have risen 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter, according to FactSet, a financial data provider.

The dollar rose to 117.60 yen from 117.43 yen Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.1344 from $1.1285.

U.S. government bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.67 percent. Gold edged down $2.30 to $1,276.90 an ounce, silver fell four cents to $17.25 an ounce, and copper was flat at $2.49 a pound.

In other NYMEX energy trading, wholesale gasoline rose 6.6 cents to close at $1.55 a gallon, heating oil rose 5.7 cents to close at $1.76 a gallon, and natural gas fell 1.1 cents to close at $2.68 per 1,000 cubic feet.