* Monday's decline was S&P 500's biggest since November
* Dell to go private in $24.4 bln deal, shares rise 0.7percent
* Archer Daniels, Estee Lauder both up after results
* Indexes up: Dow 0.6 pct, S&P 0.6 pct, Nasdaq 0.4 pct
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday asinvestors sought bargains following the market's worst dailysession since November and more companies reported results thatwere stronger than expected.
Major stock indexes had dropped about 1 percent in Monday'ssession, pressured by renewed worries over the euro zone'ssovereign debt crisis. Still, equities have been strongperformers recently, with the benchmark S&P 500 index up 4.9percent for 2013.
Dell Inc agreed to go private in a $24.4 billiondeal that was widely expected. Shares of the computer maker rose 0.7 percent to $13.36 after a brief trading halt.
Wall Street has advanced on strong fourth-quarter earningsand signs of improved economic growth, suggesting the market'slonger-term trend remains higher.
"Stocks are really the only place investors can go for anykind of real return, and that's enough to have people continuingto come into the market, not just buying on dips but ingeneral," said Thomas Nyheim, portfolio manager at ChristianaTrust in Greenville, Delaware.
Archer Daniels Midland reported revenue and adjustedfourth-quarter earnings that beat expectations, boosted bystrong global demand for oilseeds. Shares rose 4 percent to$29.58.
Estee Lauder Cos Inc gained 4.5 percent to $63.78after reporting results.
According to Thomson Reuters data, of the 53 percent of S&P500 companies that have reported earnings thus far, 69 percenthave beaten profit expectations, over the 62 percent averagesince 1994 and the 65 percent average over the past fourquarters.
Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are expectedto rise 4.5 percent, according to the data, above the 1.9percent forecast at the start of earnings season, but well belowthe 9.9 percent forecast on Oct. 1.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 83.88 points,or 0.60 percent, at 13,963.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 9.16 points, or 0.61 percent, at 1,504.87. TheNasdaq Composite Index was up 10.80 points, or 0.35percent, at 3,141.97.
At current levels, the S&P is less than 5 percent away fromits all-time intraday high of 1,576.09, reached in October 2011.
McGraw-Hill extended its Monday decline, slumping7.1 percent to $46.68 as the U.S. Justice Department launched acivil lawsuit against the company and its unit, Standard &Poor's, over mortgage bond ratings. The action marks the firstsuch federal action against a credit rating agency related tothe recent financial crisis.
The stock has dropped more than 20 percent over the past twodays.
U.S. shares of BP Plc rose 1.8 percent to $44.38after the company reported earnings that beat expectations andsaid underlying financial momentum would be "strongly evident"by 2014.
The Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturingindex was 55.2 in January, as expected and down slightly fromthe previous month.
BP (BP.)