By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch , Sunny Oh

Fed meeting kicks off; Oracle falls after earnings report

U.S. stocks rose Tuesday, buoyed by strong gains in the energy sector as the overall market attempted to reclaim some ground lost the previous day when tech shares suffered a sharp selloff.

Market participants also were anticipating the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting which started in the early afternoon. Investors are watching for signs that the central bank will take a more aggressive path toward normalizing monetary policy and lifting borrowing costs.

What are the main benchmarks doing?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 131 points, or 0.5%, to 24,742, with shares of components Boeing Co. (BA), and Nike Inc.(NKE) helping to lift the blue-chip gauge.

The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 17 points to 7,361. The S&P 500 index was up a single point to 2,717, with the energy sector, up 1.1%, buoying the broad-market index.

Tuesday's action comes a day after a tech selloff weighed on the overall stock market, with the Dow falling 335.60 points, or 1.4%, to 24,610.91 on Monday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-futures-slide-more-than-100-points-as-facebook-fall-leads-us-stocks-lower-2018-03-19), and turning negative for the year. The S&P 500 indexdropped 1.4% to 2,712.92, while the tech-laden Nasdaq slumped 1.8% to 7,344.24, for its biggest one-day percentage decline since early February.

Read:The stock market meltup is over: Morgan Stanley (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-stock-market-meltup-is-over-morgan-stanley-2018-03-19)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-stock-market-meltup-is-over-morgan-stanley-2018-03-19)Opinion:The average investor has turned against Facebook and other FAANG stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-big-change-in-faang-stocks-that-doesnt-bode-well-for-the-future-2018-03-19) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-big-change-in-faang-stocks-that-doesnt-bode-well-for-the-future-2018-03-19)

What's driving the markets?

Energy stocks were keeping stocks in positive territory after oil prices hit a March high. Concerns that growing tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, along with expectations for declining Venezuela crude production, could have a negative shock on supply helped lift oil futures. Nonetheless, this comes as the U.S. is expected to ramp up its shale drilling, complicating the outlook for energy prices.

See: Oil hits March high, buoyed by Middle East tensions (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-rebound-as-middle-east-tensions-persist-2018-03-20)

The Fed, meanwhile, is expected to deliver an interest-rate hike on Wednesday, following the Federal Open Market Committee's meeting. Rising interesting rates can dent the attractiveness of assets perceived as riskier, such as stocks.

Some investors are expecting the Fed's economic projections, or the dot plot, will show more policy makers leaning toward a more aggressive four rate increases instead of the three forecast going into the year.

There is no top-tier economic data due on Tuesday.

But tech stocks extended a slide after Facebook (FB) logged its biggest one-day percentage decline since 2014 on Monday and shed nearly $40 billion in market cap, amid a firestorm (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-sparks-international-furor-over-third-party-access-to-user-data-2018-03-18) over third-party access to users' personal data. Those losses in turn weighed on other social-media stocks and on the technology sector, which has been the best-performing group this year.

Read:Cambridge Analytica caught on hidden camera pitching dirty tricks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cambridge-analytica-caught-on-hidden-camera-pitching-dirty-tricks-2018-03-19)

Also check out: Why Facebook may face a bigger penalty from Wall Street than Washington (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-facebook-may-face-a-bigger-penalty-from-wall-street-than-washington-2018-03-20)

There were also further rumblings about the potential for trade wars, after reports that President Donald Trump may hit China with $60 billion in annual tariffs by Friday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-set-to-slap-china-with-60-billion-in-annual-tariffs-report-2018-03-19). The European Union is expected to unveil plans for a digital tax on major U.S. tech companies this week.

Which stocks were in focus?

Oracle Corp.(ORCL) shares tumbled around 8.7% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oracle-stock-heads-for-worst-day-since-2013-analysts-run-for-shelter-after-cloud-bursts-2018-03-20) after the company's quarterly earnings report and forecast disappointed Wall Street's expectations over cloud-software growth (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oracle-stock-falls-as-earnings-outlook-fuel-doubts-about-cloud-software-growth-2018-03-19).

Shares of Facebook(FB) fell 4.1%, off its lows of the day. The stock is on track to post its lowest close since July, when it ended at $159.73. Citing sources, The Wall Street Journal reported that the company's security chief, Alex Stamos, is planning to step down (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-security-chief-alex-stamos-said-to-be-planning-to-leave-2018-03-19).

Read:Zuckerberg saved tens of millions of dollars by selling Facebook stock ahead of Monday's decline (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/zuckerberg-saved-tens-of-millions-by-selling-facebook-stock-ahead-of-monday-decline-2018-03-19)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-big-change-in-faang-stocks-that-doesnt-bode-well-for-the-future-2018-03-19)First Take:Oracle earnings rain on cloud parade (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oracle-earnings-rain-on-cloud-parade-2018-03-19)

Shares of MGM Holdings Inc.(MGMB) could be active after the company's board said Chairman and Chief Executive Gary Baker has been fired (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mgm-fires-ceo-gary-barber-months-after-signing-5-year-extension-2018-03-19), and that it has begun to search for his replacement.

What are strategists saying?

"Even though U.S. shale production is rising rapidly, there are concerns over Iran whether the president signs new sanctions right now, and concerns over Venezuela, which provides refined product. Whether there is an event that will keep Iran from exporting its oil, the market will price in any disruption of supply," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial.

As far as the slump in technology stocks, she said: "The more egregious the data breach, the more likely you're going to have regulation coming in, at some point, the regulators are going to deal with the tech names that deal with private data. The selloff was an indication that investors are prepared for this, and there will be a regulatory regime imposed on them," Krosby said.

"We've seen volatility come back into markets. Stocks have become more of a two-sided trade. markets do seem more comfortable at these levels, but it'll probably take a month or two before things settle. We want to see more clarity with what's actually going on with trade, with underlying economic data. Those things will cause the market to break out one way or the other," said Shawn Cruz, senior markets specialist at TD Ameritrade.

Read more: What to expect from the new Fed dot plot on interest rates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-to-expect-from-the-new-fed-dot-plot-on-interest-rates-2018-03-16)

And see:It's time for stock-market investors to refocus on the Fed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/now-its-time-for-the-stock-market-to-refocus-on-the-fed-2018-03-16)

How are other markets faring?

European stocks traded higher. Asian markets pared earlier losses (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nikkei-leads-asian-market-declines-to-start-the-week-2018-03-18), though Japan's Nikkei benchmark stood out with a drop of 0.5%.

Oil futures moved higher (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-rebound-as-middle-east-tensions-persist-2018-03-20), and the ICE U.S. Dollar Index also gained (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-starts-week-lower-as-british-pound-soars-on-brexit-agreement-2018-03-19). Gold futures slipped.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 20, 2018 14:42 ET (18:42 GMT)