So everyone's busy buying up shares since the very pessimistic Q1 profits forecast is almost certain to result in some short term rallies, even if the first company to report in yesterday, Alcoa, did disappoint.  But what really buttressed today's market and shot the Dow up 164 points was the new agreement announced between Russia and Saudi Arabia to at long last freeze oil production in this badly overextended and glutted energy environment.  And that's in addition to this Sunday's meeting of oil producers where it is expected that a similar deal will be brokered.  The short term effect has been to shoot crude to a 4-month high today and oil, down in the 30's just a couple weeks ago, was up to $45 per barrel today.  The rallies have already begun and Q1 is just barely getting started.  Volume was a little above recent averages at 7.5 billion.

Markets | Tue Apr 12, 2016 6:31pm EDT

Surging energy shares boost Wall Street as earnings kick off

BY LEWIS KRAUSKOPF

DJ:  17,721.25  +164.84      NAS: 4,872.09  +38.69        S&P:  2,061.72  +19.73               

(Reuters)  Wall Street gained on Tuesday, led by surging energy shares that were buttressed by rising oil prices, as investors scooped up equities at the start of corporate earnings season.

All 10 S&P sectors closed higher and the Dow industrials posted their best day in about a month.

Energy shares .SPNY jumped 2.8 percent, with oil majors Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) and Chevron (CVX.N) giving two of the biggest boosts to the S&P 500.

Financials .SPSY, the worst performing group this year, rose 1.3 percent. JP Morgan (JPM.N) was set to report results on Wednesday, followed by other banks later in the week.

S&P 500 profits are expected to have fallen 7.8 percent in the first quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, but that low bar may make it easier for companies to post positive surprises.

"Because of lowered expectations, markets have a way of popping a little bit before the earnings set in," said Peter Kenny, senior market strategist at Global Markets Advisory Group in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. "It’s the lowered expectations that are really setting the framework for any sort of short-term rally."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 164.84 points, or 0.94 percent, to 17,721.25, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 19.73 points, or 0.97 percent, to 2,061.72 and the Nasdaq Composite.IXIC added 38.69 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,872.09.

Wall Street's rocky start to 2016 was followed by a sharp rebound since mid-February and stocks are now slightly positive for 2016.

The stock market has taken its cues from the fluctuations in depressed oil prices for much of the past few months, although that correlation has weakened some in recent weeks.

Global oil prices hit four-month highs on Tuesday, hovering just under $45 a barrel after a report that top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to freeze output ahead of a much-anticipated producers meeting on Sunday.

Alcoa (AA.N) shares fell 2.7 percent to $9.48. The metals company late on Monday reported a lower quarterly profit, with results hurt by low commodity prices.

Juniper Networks (JNPR.N) sank 7.4 percent to $23.06. The network gear maker projected lower-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue.

About 7.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 7 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,405 to 599, for a 4.02-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,902 issues rose and 925 fell for a 2.06-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 29 new highs and 26 new lows.