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US stocks jump as Alcoa results best expectations

Wall Street stocks followed European equity markets higher Tuesday, surging in early trade after results from Alcoa kicked off quarterly earnings season.

About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17,913.28, up 272.44 points (1.54 percent).

The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 27.56 (1.36 percent) to 2,055.82, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 81.05 (1.74 percent) at 4,745.76.

Equity markets in France and Germany were both up more than 1.5 percent on speculation about monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank.

Alcoa slipped 0.6 percent after reporting earnings that translated into 33 cents per share, more than the 25 cents projected by analysts. The aluminum maker's results mark the unofficial start of quarterly earnings season.

"A good start to fourth-quarter reporting season is helping to offset further weakness in oil," said an investor note from Wells Fargo Advisors.

MetLife advanced 0.8 percent as it announced it will challenge in court a US regulatory designation as a "systemically important financial institution," a classification that subjects it to tougher scrutiny.

Homebuilder KB Home added 1.8 percent after fourth-quarter revenues jumped 15 percent to $2.4 billion. Profit surged to $852.8 million on an $824.2 million tax benefit.

Apple rose 2.6 percent following an upgrade by Credit Suisse, while Best Buy rose 1.7 percent on an upgrade from Goldman Sachs.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 1.92 percent from 1.91 percent Monday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.52 percent from 2.50 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.