Wall Street rallies and oil prices continue to climb.

Wall Street rallies and oil prices continue to climb.

Stocks rose on Wednesday, rebounding from a late drop the day before, as investors were cheered by some strong results from retailers and another jump in oil prices lifted shares of energy producers.

Markets have been volatile this week, with stocks rallying Monday and then falling on Tuesday, mostly as investors assessed a drugmaker’s claim of progress on a coronavirus vaccine. The drugmaker, Moderna, said that a very small early-stage trial of the vaccine had shown potential.

But reporting that questioned the specificity of that claim knocked stocks back in the final hour of trading on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, more retailers reported better than expected results that encouraged investors. Lowe’s, the home supplies chain, reported an increase in comparable store sales in the first three months of the year. Target reported that digital sales in the first quarter had surged by 141 percent, though its shares fell slightly. Walmart, which had reported soaring sales the day before, added to its recent gains.

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines both jumped. Delta’s chief executive said in a television interview that the airline was likely to increase flight capacity during the summer as travel started to pick up, and United said it was working on a plan with Clorox and the Cleveland Clinic to reduce points of contact and promote social distancing for travelers.

The S&P 500 rose nearly 2 percent, and stocks in Europe also ended higher.

Oil prices continued their recent rally, with the U.S. crude benchmark climbing more than 5 percent above $33 a barrel. A number of energy stocks also rallied. Chevron and Exxon were each up about 3 percent.

After sinking to once unthinkable lows, oil prices have rebounded this month after oil producing nations cut output and consumption also picked up.