Wall Street rebounds from Monday's losses on good signs of euro area

NEW YORK, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. stocks bounced back Tuesday from Monday's biggest drop of 2013, as investors' concerns about the debt-ridden euro area eased.

Wall Street's gains followed Monday's losses weighed on by the increasing borrowing costs for Italy and Spain Monday and concerns among bond investors that those countries may be unable to meet their financial obligations.

In Europe, a measure of manufacturing and service businesses in January, released on Tuesday, rose to a 10-month high.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Congress to pass a small package of spending cuts and tax reforms to delay larger, automatic cuts from taking effect. But Republicans quickly bristled at his proposal.

On the economic front, U.S. home prices increased 0.4 percent in December to end 2012 up 8.3 percent, according to CoreLogic, a real estate data provider.

Besides, the Institute for Supply Management's January Services Index for the United States, released on Tuesday, stood at 55.2 as expected, slightly down from December's reading of 56.1.

In corporate news, shares of Yum! Brands slid 2.91 percent to 62.08 U.S. dollars, although the restaurant operator beat market estimates on its fourth-quarter earnings posted after Monday's closing bell. The company expected its full-year 2013 earnings to decline.

Shares of NYSE Euronext, the world's leading exchange operator, moved up 1.00 percent to 35.22 dollars after the owner of the New York Stock Exchange reported a net income of 28 million dollars for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to 110 million dollars for the same period of 2011.

Shares of Walt Disney gained over 1 percent in after-hour trading as the media company reported its quarterly earnings after the closing bell that beat market expectations.

Dell's shares advanced 1.13 percent to 13.42 dollars as the personal computer maker entered into a private buyout deal to be acquired by Michael Dell-Silver Lake for 13.65 dollars per share.

Shares of McGraw-Hill extended losses, dropping 10.70 percent to 44.92 dollars as the Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, a McGraw-Hill unit, was accused of inflated ratings and understated risks out of a desire to gain more business from investment banks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 99.22 points, or 0.71 percent, to 13,979.30. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock Index went up 15.58 points, or 1.04 percent, to 1,511.29. The Nasdaq Composite index jumped 40.41 points, or 1.29 percent, to 3,171.58.