U.S. stocks rally after heavy selloff

U.S. stocks advanced in the morning session Wednesday, as investors bought the dip after a sharp decline of six days.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 187.27 points, or 1.20 percent, to 15,853.71. The S&P 500 added 22.45 points, or 1.20 percent, to 1,890.06. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 55.37 points, or 1.23 percent, to 4,561.85.

Traders remained cautious after unexpected reversal Tuesday, when U.S. stocks pared early rebound in the final section of the trading and extended the drop.

S&P 500 lost more than 2 trillion dollars in terms of market value after the six-day losing streak.

The recent heavy selloff was sparked by the expectations for the U.S. Federal Reserve to increase interest rates as soon as September and global growth concerns.

The upbeat economic data from the U.S. renewed investors' expectation for an interest-rate hike. New orders for manufactured durable goods in July increased 2 percent to 241.1 billion U.S. dollars, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Wednesday.

U.S. sales of new single-family houses in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 507,000 units, said the Commerce Department.

U.S. consumer confidence for August came in at 101.5, up from 91 in July, according to the New York-based research group Conference Board.

In company news, Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield-services provider, agreed to buy Cameron International Corp. for 14.8 billion U.S. dollars. Endit