US stocks jumped on Tuesday, recovering much of Monday’s losses and picking up momentum from solid economic indicators.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 99.22 points higher (0.71%) at 13,979.30.

The S&P 500 index climbed 15.58 (1.04%) to 1,511.29, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 40.41 (1.29%) to 3,171.58.

In a mid-afternoon market update, Charles Schwab & Co. attributed Tuesday’s “solidly higher” returns to economic reports showing US services sector activity rising and the contraction in eurozone business activity decelerating.

The Dow blue-chip members almost universally rose, with the biggest gains coming from UnitedHealth Group (up 3.7%), Bank of America (up 3.4%), JPMorgan Chase (up 2.3%) and American Express (up 2.1%).

Some companies on the Nasdaq index also performed well, with Apple jumping 3.5 per cent and BlackBerry rising 7.6%.

Dell shares gained 1.1% at $13.42 after the company announced a $24.4 billion deal to go private, valuing the company at $13.65 a share.

Dell rival Hewlett-Packard also gained, rising 2.5%.

British internet and cable TV firm Virgin Media gained 17.9% as it confirmed talks with Liberty Global to be acquired by the US cable giant. Liberty Global fell 2.3%.

McGraw-Hill, the owner of S&P, nosedived by 10.7%, the second day of sharp declines, after the Department of Justice sued S&P over its ratings in 2007 of mortgage bonds. S&P competitor Moody’s was also swept up in the negativity, dropping 8.8%, even though it was not listed in the complaint.

Fast-food franchise giant Yum Brands, owner of Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut, sank 2.9 per cent after its fourth-quarter earnings showed more impact in its China business from bad publicity over chicken raised on Chinese farms. Shanghai government officials are investigating after a television report showed excessive levels of antibiotics in chicken.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.02% from 1.97 late Monday, while the 30-year rose to 3.22% from 3.18 Monday. Bond prices and yields move inversely.