1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks tick up as oil rebounds

U.S. stocks reversed early sharp losses to end higher Wednesday, as signs of stabilization in oil prices soothed anxious investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 53.21 points, or 0.32 percent, to 16,484.99. The S&P 500 added 8.53 points, or 0.44 percent, to 1,929.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 39.02 points, or 0.87 percent, to 4,542.61.

Oil prices pared early deep losses to close higher Wednesday, with Brent crude jumping over 3 percent, as data showed U.S. gasoline demand rose 5.2 percent over the past four weeks compared with a year ago.

The volatility in oil prices has dominated market sentiment recently. After tumbling about 18 percent since the beginning of the year, U.S. oil has been traded around 30 U.S. dollars a barrel recently amid persistent worries about a global supply glut.

On the economic front, U.S. sales of new single-family houses in January 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 494,000, missing market estimates of 520,000, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

This is 9.2 percent below the revised December rate of 544,000 and is 5.2 percent below the January 2015 estimate of 521,000.

Overseas, Chinese shares ended higher after volatile trading Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.88 percent to close at 2,928.9 points.

European equities suffered big losses Wednesday amid weak earnings reports. German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange plunged 2.64 percent, while British benchmark FTSE 100 Index lost 1.60 percent. Endit