Stocks rise for second day as Fed officials meet

NEW YORK -- Stocks are climbing Tuesday as buyers return to a market that has been mostly beaten down in recent days. The price of oil is also rising for a second day in a row in a modest recovery from long-time lows.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 233 points, or 1.3 percent, to 17,602 as of 1:56 p.m. ET. The Standard & Poor's 500 index picked up 29 points, or 1.5 percent, to 2,051. The Nasdaq composite index added 69 points, or 1.4 percent, to 5,021. It's been more than a month since the index rose for two consecutive days.

Satellite radio operator Sirius XM Holdings jumped after announcing that it had signed Howard Stern to another five-year deal.

Post-It notes maker 3M fell after it trimmed its profit forecast for 2015 and gave a disappointing estimate for 2016.

The price of oil rose again. U.S. crude gained 76 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $37.07 a barrel in New York. Oil also increased about 2 percent Monday, although it remains at its lowest prices in more than six years. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, increased 71 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $38.87.

That helped some of the worst-performing energy stocks of 2015. Exxon Mobil jumped $3.65, or 4 percent, to $78.69. Natural gas, which is at its lowest prices in 14 years, continued to fall, dropping 5 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $1.84 per 1,000 cubic feet.

The government said consumer prices were unchanged in November, but there were encouraging signs. Consumers spent more on airline fares and medical care, while spending on energy and food were down. Core inflation, which leaves out energy and food, rose 0.2 percent. That's the best result in more than a year.

Tuesday the Federal Reserve starts its final meeting of 2015, and Wednesday it's expected to raise interest rates for the first time in almost 10 years.

Boeing advanced after the aerospace company boosted stock buyback authorization to $14 billion and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.09.

Investors dipped a toe back into the high yield bond market after several days of selling "junk" bonds. The iShares high yield corporate bond ETF rose 1.7 percent to $80.08 and the SPDR Barclays high yield bond ETF rose 1.3 percent to $33.98. Treasury bond prices fell, and the yield on the 10-year note rose to 2.27 percent from 2.23 percent Monday.

The euro fell to $1.0961 from $1.0998. The dollar rose to 121.39 yen from 120.84 yen on Monday.