US shares pushed higher by Oil gains

There was a boost from oil prices which reversed early losses to trade higher.

US crude added 2.8% to trade at $33.05 a barrel, following confirmation of a meeting between major oil producers next month. That lifted oil shares: Exxon Mobil finished 0.6% higher.

By the close the Dow Jones was up 212 points or 1.3% to 16,697. The S&P 500 climbed 1.1% to 1,929.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq index climbed 0.9% points to 4,582.

Earlier in the session there had been better-than-expected manufacturing data.

Figures from the Commerce Department showed orders for durable goods – long-lasting manufactured products – rose by 4.9% in January.

The increase was the biggest since March last year, and beat forecasts for a 2.5% gain.

Shares in cloud software company Salesforce jumped nearly 11% after its quarterly revenues beat expectations.

Fourth quarter revenues rose 25.3% to $1.81bn, and the company also increased its full-year sales forecast.