U.S. Stocks Advance as Energy Rally Outweighs Oracle’s Tumble

U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher for a second day, as gains in energy and consumer shares helped the market recover from an early drop led by disappointing results at Oracle Corp.

Exxon Mobil Corp. gained 1.4 percent after oil rose for a third day as U.S. inventories declined the most in a decade. Gauges of utility, consumer staples and health-care companies in the S&P 500 added at least 0.7 percent. Bank of America Corp. advanced 1.2 percent after agreeing to a record $335 million fair-lending settlement. Oracle plunged 12 percent, the most since 2002, as sales and profit missed analysts’ projections.