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By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Investors went hunting for bargains a day after U.S. stocks racked up the biggest losses in more than seven months. The buying helped lift major stock indexes out of the red on Tuesday. Prices of U.S. government bonds fell. The mini-rebound seemed fragile at times, with the market giving up some of its earlier gains by late afternoon. Markets were coming off a 326-point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average on Monday, and the blue-chip index's worst January perfor- mance in five years prompted by disappoint- ing news about U.S. man- ufacturing. ''It was the biggest hole we've seen for quite a bit, so it's not surprising to see a green day after a couple days of red,'' said Andres Garcia-Amaya, a global market strategist with J.P. Morgan Funds. Portfolio managers seized on the aftermath of Monday's sell-off to buy, even as many stock watch- ers acknowledged that the market could still be in for a correction, or a drop of at least 10 percent. ''The one thing you never know is when the bottom is going to hit in a downturn,'' said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist with Prudential Financial. ''So what you might do is at least begin the process of building your posi- tion.'' Among the biggest gainers on the day were fashion retailer Michael Kors Holdings, water technology provider Xylem and the owner of Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell restaurant chains. Trading was relatively light for much of the day, picking up by late after- noon. But most of the active stocks were in the green. All told, the Dow rose 72.44 points, or 0.5 per- cent, to close at 15,445.24 Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 13.31 points, or 0.8 per- cent, to 1,755.20. The Nasdaq composite gained 34.56 points, or 0.9 per- cent, to 4,031.52. Even with Tuesday's gains, the Dow is down 6.8 percent this year, and the S&P 500 index is off 5 percent . Investors are trying to gauge the strength of the U.S. economic recovery. They got some positive news on Tuesday, when the Commerce Depart- ment reported that orders to U.S. factories fell 1.5 percent in December, as aircraft orders plunged. That's the biggest drop since July, but it was less than anticipated. On Monday, the Insti- tute for Supply Manage- ment said its index of manufacturing activity fell to 51.3 in January, the lowest reading since May. That unnerved investors already worried about signs of a slowdown in the global economy. Whether Tuesday's market uptick gains momentum or gives way to another sell-off may depend on what the gov- ernment's latest jobs report says on Friday. Employers added just 74,000 jobs in December, the fewest in three years and far below the average of 214,000 added in the previous four months. The consensus forecast for January calls for hiring to rebound to 170,000, according to FactSet. ''These numbers are very subject to revisions and it would be comfort- ing for investors to see that (December) number revised upward,'' said Krosby. ''It would console investors that the econo- my has not lost momen- tum.'' Between now and then, Wall Street will parse company earnings for more clues about the economy's health. Among companies due to report on Wednesday: Time Warner, Merck, Yelp, Walt Disney and Allstate. ''For the next couple of days, I think the volatility remains,'' said David Chalupnik, head of equi- ties for Nuveen Asset Management. ''I don't know if we've seen the bottom to this pullback or correction.'' Investors rewarded some companies who reported earnings on Tuesday. Michael Kors jumped $13.24, or 17.3 percent, to $89.91 after the fashion retailer reported stronger results. Yum! Brands jumped $5.90, or 9 percent, to $72.06 after the owner of KFC reported better-than- expected earnings late Monday. It also indicated it remains confident about its earnings growth fore- cast for the year. 8B Daily News – Wednesday, February 5, 2014 VOTING IS UNDER WAY! Vote for your favorite Tehama County Businesses before Wednesday, February 26. Online Ballots Only at www.redbluffdailynews.com Five Lucky Voters will be selected at random from all eligible ballots on March 4. Each will receive a $100 Shopping Spree at the Tehama County business of their choice! Bargain-hunting drives slight gains for US stocks Wall Street