NEW YORK – U.S. stocks climbed Tuesday after solid earnings reports from several big companies. Stocks had closed at five-month lows the day before, and groups of companies that struggled badly made big gains.

Many of the best-performing stocks Tuesday came from parts of the market that have fared the worst during the market’s plunge this month. Those included smaller and more U.S.-focused companies, internet and media companies, basic materials makers and energy companies.

Oreo maker Mondelez and athletic apparel maker Under Armour both jumped following strong third-quarter reports.

Corporate earnings are up about 20 per cent this year as the U.S. economy gains strength and corporate taxes come down after last year’s tax cut. Analysts expect company profits to keep growing in 2019, but at a slower pace.

Julian Emanuel, chief equity and derivative strategist for BTIG, said investors are worried about two things that could slow the economy further: the U.S.-China trade dispute, and the Federal Reserve raising interest rates.

“All of this fear about growth is being traded on something we don’t see in the statistics right now,” he said. “You factually don’t have signs of an economic slowdown yet.”

The S&P 500 index jumped 41.38 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 2,682.63. On Monday the benchmark index closed at its lowest level since early May following a report that the Trump administration could announce more tariffs on imports from China in December.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 431.72 points, or 1.8 per cent, to 24,874.64. The Nasdaq composite advanced 111.36 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 7,161.65. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks rose 29.33 points, or 2 per cent, to 1,506.64.

Trading remained uneven: the S&P 500 fell at the start of trading and then turned sharply higher. In the afternoon the index gave up all of its gains and briefly turned lower, but recovered to finish near its highest levels of the day.

Mondelez, which makes Cadbury chocolates and Trident gum in addition to Oreos, rose by the most in a year after its quarterly profit surpassed analysts’ projections. Its stock gained 5 per cent to $42.12. Other household goods makers also did well. Walmart rose 2.6 per cent to $102.42.

Among media companies, video game maker Take-Two Interactive soared 11 per cent to $124.01 after it said its game “Red Dead Redemption 2” brought in $725 million in retail sales over its first three days. Take-Two shares are sharply lower this month as media, internet and technology companies have taken a beating.

Some of the worst losses during the market’s current downturn were sustained by longtime investor favourites that had soared in recent months. Amazon and Netflix have both plunged 24 per cent in October, but those companies had more to lose than many others did: Amazon is still up 31 per cent this year, and Netflix has climbed 49 per cent.

Elsewhere among internet and media companies, Comcast jumped 4.8 per cent and Facebook rose 2.9 per cent to $146.22. The social media company rose another 1.4 per cent in aftermarket trading after its third-quarter profit was larger than analysts expected.

Among technology companies, chipmaker Intel rose 5.2 per cent to $47.76.

While those stocks have slumped lately, the S&P 500’s index of utilities and household goods makers have each climbed 3 per cent this month. The broader S&P 500 has tumbled 7.9 per cent over the same time.

General Electric cut its dividend again. The company halved its dividend to 12 cents from 24 cents in December, and cut it to 1 cent Tuesday. The struggling industrial giant also said the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into a $22 billion charge it booked to its power business this year. Securities regulators were also conducting a civil probe.

The stock sank 8.8 per cent to $10.18, its lowest price since April 2009.

European stocks mostly fell following a report that the region’s economy slowed down in the third quarter. The economy of the 19-country eurozone unexpectedly slowed in the third quarter. It expanded by 0.2 per cent in the July-September period, which fell short of analyst forecasts. Experts say growth is likely to pick up again, but it’s unlikely to match last year’s strong performance as the region faces issues like Britain’s departure from the EU, trade disputes and a clash with Italy over that country’s budget.

Germany’s DAX fell 0.4 per cent and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.2 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.1 per cent.

A weakening of the Chinese yuan helped some stock indexes in Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.5 per cent after official data showed that the unemployment rate dipped to 2.3 per cent in September. South Korea’s Kospi picked up 0.9 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9 per cent.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.12 per cent from 3.08 per cent.

Benchmark U.S. crude shed 1.3 per cent to $66.18 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 1.8 per cent to $75.91 per barrel in London.

Wholesale gasoline fell 1 per cent to $1.81 a gallon. Heating oil lost 1.1 per cent to $2.26 a gallon and natural gas declined 0.3 per cent to $3.19 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold lost 0.2 per cent to $1,225.30 an ounce. Silver rose 0.1 per cent to $14.46 an ounce. Copper slumped 2.8 per cent to $2.66 a pound.

The dollar rose to 112.96 yen from 112.35 yen. The euro fell to $1.1342 from $1.1390.

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AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP