Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, snapping a three- day retreat, as investors awaited this week's earnings reports and jobs data to gauge the pace of the recovery in the world's largest economy.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Johnson & Johnson rose more than 1.6 percent, leading gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, after brokerages raised their stock ratings. Convergys Corp. jumped 11 percent after saying it will buy Stream Global Services Inc. for $820 million. Netflix Inc. slid 4.2 percent as Morgan Stanley said the company faces more competition.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 0.6 percent to 1,837.39 at 10:06 a.m. in New York. The gauge lost 1.2 percent from Jan. 2 through yesterday, the longest stretch of declines to start a year since 2005. The index climbed 30 percent last year, the most since 1997. The Dow average added 115.48 points today, or 0.7 percent, to 16,540.58.