2015.01.2201:58:37UTC+00US stocks on three-day winning streak on earnings before ECB meeting

US stocks advanced for a third consecutive day led by energy shares ahead of the European Central Bank meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.22% or 39.05 points to 17,554.28 with UnitedHealth pacing blue-chip gains while IBM led blue-chip declines. The gauge lost as much as 119 points before rebounding by as much as 84 points and then settling at its current level. The S&P 500 rose by 0.47% or 9.57 points to 2,032.12. Among the gauge’s ten advancing major industry groups, energy shares were the biggest gainers. The Nasdaq Composite climbed by 0.27% or 12.58 points to 4,667.42. The trend showed that for every five shares declining, approximately nine climbed. The New York Stock Exchange witnessed 771 million shares change hands while composite volumes went beyond 3.7 billion. The fear gauge of investors or the CBOE Volatility Index shed 5.2% to 18.85.

Energy shares lifted the S&P 500 gauge, adding 1.8% for the sector with crude oil rebounding by as much as 3.7%. Netflix Inc. surged by 17% on better-than-expected subscriber growth while EBay Inc. rose by 3%. IBM or International Business Machines Corp. shed 3.1% to become the biggest laggard in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The European Central Bank will meet later today. Market participants are betting that the central bank will add stimulus in a bond-purchase program worth 550 billion euro or $630 billion to be announced by ECB head, Mario Draghi.