US STOCKS-Wall Street rebounds as energy shares lead

                                
   * Energy shares rebound after previous day's rout
                                
 * Pending home sales hit six-month high
                                
 * Ford rises on May auto sales numbers
                                
 * Indexes up: Dow 2.3 pct, S&P 2.6 pct, Nasdaq 2.6 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates to close)
                                
 By Leah Schnurr
                                
 NEW YORK, June 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rallied on
Wednesday as investors rushed back into beaten-down stocks, led
by energy, which bore the brunt of the sell-off a day earlier.
                                
 The energy sector handily led the way up with the S&P
energy index <.GSPE> gaining 4.3 percent. Shares of Halliburton
rose 12 percent after executives said the offshore oil industry
had plenty of work even as the Obama administration imposed a
six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling. For details, see
[ID:nN02165677]
                                
 While investors still are cautious about the outlook for
energy stocks, "the genuine blood bath in the sector yesterday
certainly seems to have drawn in some fundamental value
seekers," said Craig Peckham, equity trading strategist at
Jefferies & Company in New York.
                                
 U.S.-listed shares of BP Plc <BP.L><BP.N> climbed 3.1
percent to $37.66 even as the company hit a snag in its latest
effort to halt the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The stock
is down close to 38 percent since the rig explosion on April
20. [ID:nN02139553]
                                
 Major automakers posted double-digit U.S. sales gains in
May from depressed levels a year earlier, including Ford Motor
Co <F.N>, which rose 3.9 percent to $11.85. [ID:nN02180660]
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 225.52
points, or 2.25 percent, to 10,249.54. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> rose 27.67 points, or 2.58 percent, to
1,098.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> climbed 58.74
points, or 2.64 percent, to 2,281.07.
                                
 Investors also were encouraged by data showing pending
sales of previously owned homes increased to a six-month high
in April, though analysts pointed to a rush to take advantage
of the home buyer's tax credit before it expired.
[ID:nN02171860]
                                
 The PHLX Oil Service Sector index <.OSX> climbed 5.5
percent with Halliburton Co <HAL.N> rising to $23.68 and
Schlumberger Ltd <SLB.N> gaining 8.8 percent to $56.31.
[nSPILL]
                                
 "This is a bit of a relief recovery after yesterday and the
strongest symptom of that is the action we're observing in the
energy sector," said Lawrence Creatura, portfolio manager at
Federated Clover Investment Advisors in Rochester, New York.
                                
 Investors "are observing the large amount of market
capitalization which has been destroyed across the industry and
calculating that that damage is too large relative to the
ultimate liability that we're going to see," said Creatura.
                                
 United Airlines parent UAL Corp <UAUA.O> jumped 12.6
percent to $21.78 after Bank of America-Merrill Lynch
reinstated the company with a "buy" rating, saying it had good
momentum whether or not it merged with Continental Airlines
<CAL.N>. 
                                
 Amgen Inc <AMGN.O> helped boost the Nasdaq, gaining 10.5
percent to $56.09 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
approved the sale of its osteoporosis drug to help prevent
fractures in post-menopausal women. [ID:nN01134663]
 (Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Kenneth Barry)