Stocks Bounce After Extended Selloff

Global stock markets mostly advanced Tuesday, showing further signs of steadying following a recent selloff.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 91 points, or 0.4%, to 21794 shortly after the opening bell. The S&P 500 gained 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.6%. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.7%, buoyed by gains in mining shares. Stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region mostly pushed higher.

The moves follow the largest two-week decline for the Dow and the S&P 500 this year, as a combination of disappointing corporate results, geopolitical tensions and investor concerns over the fate of the White House's policy agenda jolted markets.

The S&P 500 is still up 8.5% in 2017, but many investors think further gains could be muted absent a surprise uptick in economic growth or company earnings.

"The byword seems to be exhaustion," said Larry Hatheway, global chief economist at Swiss money-manager GAM Holding.

Mr. Hatheway said he expects markets to trade in a range, and to be more volatile, given the lack of upside surprises in global growth and earnings -- the two main drivers of the equity rally.

"There is some loss of momentum," he said.

In Europe, mining stocks led the market higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Basic Resources subindex rising 1.8%. That comes on the back of industrial metals prices hitting multiyear highs and solid results from companies in the sector.

BHP Billiton declared on Tuesday that it would triple its final dividend, joining fellow miners in rewarding shareholders as its fortunes have rebounded with a recovery in commodity prices. It also said it would sell its U.S. shale operations following months of investor pressure. In London trade, shares in BHP rose 3.5%.

Elsewhere, shares in Provident Financial tumbled 68% after the British lender issued an earnings warning, withdrew its interim dividend and announced the resignation of its chief executive.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.8%.

Stock markets were broadly higher across the Asia-Pacific region. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.9%, Korea's Kospi was up 0.4%, and mining stocks helped push Australia's S&P/ASX 200 0.4% higher.

In Japan, the Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.1%, notching its 11th decline in 13 trading sessions and cutting its year-to-date gain to 1.4%.

Investors were also looking ahead to the Jackson Hole economic symposium later this week. The roster of top central bankers includes Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who will gather at the annual conference that kicks off Thursday.

Investors are watching for further details on the Fed's plans to scale back its balance sheet and clues on when the ECB could trim its asset purchases, which have helped underpin markets in recent years.

"Our view of the world at the moment is it's very much central bank dependent," said Iain Stealey, a portfolio manager at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

"The risk is they surprise to the hawkish side. The market isn't pricing in much in terms of rate hikes from the Fed," he added.

In bond markets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged up to 2.205% from 2.182% on Monday, according to Tradeweb. Yields rise as prices fall. In currencies, the WSJ Dollar Index rose 0.4% after declining slightly on Monday.

In commodity markets, gold prices fell 0.4% to $1,291 an ounce. U.S. crude oil prices added 0.7% to $47.82 a barrel.

Kosaku Narioka contributed to this article.

Write to Christopher Whittall at christopher.whittall@wsj.com and Ese Erheriene at ese.erheriene@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 22, 2017 09:55 ET (13:55 GMT)