Investing.com – Wall Street gained ground on Tuesday while market participants watched oil tumble nearly 4% as doubts grew over OPEC’s ability to reach a meaningful agreement on limiting crude output the following day in Vienna.
At 11:50AM ET (16:50GMT), the Dow Jones gained 32 points, or 0.17%, the S&P 500 rose 7 points, or 0.33% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded up 24 points, or 0.59%.
Oil remained the main focus for investors on Tuesday with opposition between the unofficial head of OPEC Saudi Arabia and its two closest rivals in production Iraq and Iran over an agreement to limit oil production designed to support crude prices.
Even though OPEC reached a preliminary agreement in September to reduce production to between 32.5 million and 33 million barrels per day, it appeared to continue to be leaving individual quotas to the last minute.
Saudi Arabia was insisting that Iraq and Iran would need to cut output in order to close a deal at the official meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, but Iran declared on Tuesday that it was currently producing near levels decided at the September agreement in Algeria, suggesting it was unwilling to reduce its output.
Iraq, meanwhile, has been pressing for higher output limits in order to fund its fight against the Islamic State.
The butting of heads spooked investors on Tuesday with oil tumbling more than 4%. U.S. crude futures sank 3.76% to $45.31 by 11:51AM ET (16:51GMT), while Brent oil traded down 3.60% to $47.44.
Outside of commodities, economic data released stateside on Tuesday was largely positive.
The second estimate of third quarter gross domestic product was revised upwards to two-year high of 3.2%, beating expectations for a smaller upward adjustment from 2.9% to 3.0%.
Consumer confidence also soared past expectations in November, according to the most recent report from the Conference Board.
The survey period came before the recent Thanksgiving holiday sales and as Adobe Digital Insight (ADI) data released Tuesday showed that online sales during Cyber Monday grew by 12.1% to a record $3.45 billion in the U.S.
With the data on the U.S. labor market continuing to show employment on solid footing, both economic growth and consumer spending have been at the center of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) focus as it prepares to return to policy normalization at the December 13-14 decision.
Markets have discounted the fact that the Fed is likely to make a move with odds for a rate hike close to or hovering near 100% for over a week.
According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, markets appeared to be concentrating more on the second rate hike with odds above the 50% threshold for as soon as June 2017.
The dollar remained supported by the data and Fed rate hike expectations. At 11:53AM ET (16:53GMT), the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up a slight 0.01% at 101.22, though still holding below the almost 14-year highs of 102.07 set on Thursday.
In company news, shares of Thor Industries Inc (NYSE:THO) soared 14% after the RV maker reported earnings-per-share of $1.49, compared to consensus expectations of just $1.23.
Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF) also jumped more than 4% as the jewelry retailer beat on both the top and bottom line while same-store sales declined much less than forecast.
Among Dow components, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) provided an upbeat guidance sending its shares up nearly 4% to record highs as it led gains on the blue-chip index.