U.S. stocks jumped on Tuesday as commodity-related shares rose with a slump in the dollar and the latest batch of corporate earnings improved the profit outlook.

Oil futures gained $2.77 at $76.90, boosting shares of energy companies, including Chevron Corp , up 2.3 percent at $72.62. The gains in oil and other commodities came as the euro rebounded after recent losses against the dollar.

Shares of Merck & Co gained 2 percent to $37.65 after the drugmaker posted quarterly profit in line with analysts' estimates and stuck by its goals for massive savings from its recently completed merger with rival Schering-Plough Corp. More than 70 percent of companies reporting fourth-quarter results so far have beaten earnings estimates.

Gold futures also rallied after the gains in the euro, which lost ground in recent weeks amid worries over debt problems in Greece.

The main catalyst is weakness in the dollar, which has helped propel energy, basic materials and industrial stocks higher in early trading, said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial in Westport, Connecticut.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 101.58 points, or 1.01 percent, at 10,200.72. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 11.66 points, or 1.08 percent, at 1,087.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 19.37 points, or 0.89 percent, at 2,202.90.

Also helping sentiment, a gauge of manufacturing in New York state rose in February as inventories jumped, the New York Federal Reserve said in a report, easily beating a forecast.

The day's gains come after a three-day weekend, with the market closed on Monday for the U.S. Presidents Day holiday.

A nuclear energy exchange-traded fund rose 1.7 percent to $21.48 as President Obama announced $8 billion in loan guarantees to build the first U.S. nuclear plant in three decades.

Financial stocks got an early boost from Britain's Barclays Plc which said it had started the year well after beating forecasts with 2009 profit of $18.2 billion.

Bank of America jumped 2.7 percent to $14.84.

Shares of chipmaker Intel rose 1.7 percent to $20.78 after a brokerage raised its rating on the stock.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

United kingdom Energy Merck & Co.