Stocks rise

US stock indices rose on Tuesday as the major averages are expected to stabilise at or near their lowest level in months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 114 points, or 0.34 per cent, while the S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4 per cent and 0.45 per cent respectively. The rise came a day after the Nasdaq fell by more than 2%, continuing a fall from a high of 7.3% on 3 September, closing at its lowest level since 23 June.

Shares of energy-related companies, including ExxonMobil Corp., Halliburton Co. and Kinder Morgan Inc. rose after West Texas Intermediate crude hit a seven-year high, rising $1.02 to $78.64 a barrel.

Facebook Inc. was in the spotlight as a whistleblower was due to testify on Capitol Hill about the harmful effects of its platform a day after the social networking site and its Instagram and WhatsApp services were shut down for several hours.

Johnson & Johnson has filed an emergency authorisation with the US Food and Drug Administration for the booster vaccine against COVID-19 for people 18 years and older.

Lordstown Motors Corp. was downgraded by Morgan Stanley from 'hold' to 'sell' and given a $2 target price amid concerns over the planned sale of the company's Ohio plant for $230 million, or less than 20% of its value.

In deals, Qualcomm Inc. and investment firm SSW Partners agreed to buy Swedish automotive technology group Veoneer for $4.5 billion, up 18.4% from a July offer made by Canadian mobile technology company Magna.

Foreign markets were mostly higher. European stock markets rose across the board, with Germany's DAX 30 adding 0.42%, Britain's FTSE 100 adding 0.55% and France's CAC 40 up 0.82%.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.28% and Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.19%. China's Shanghai Composite was closed for the weekend.