Stocks Start Week With Rally

Other tech names helped the sector outperform throughout the day. Research in Motion (RIMM Quote), for example, bounced 6.9% after unveiling the design for its new BlackBerry Bold, a 3G smartphone seen as a rival to Apple's (AAPL Quote) iPhone. Apple shares picked up 2.3%.

Simultaneously, the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index and the Amex Networking Index trekked higher by 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively. Dow components Microsoft (MSFT Quote) and IBM (IBM Quote) both rose.

Overall, stocks' breadth was positive to start the week. Winners outpaced losers by a 7-to-3 margin on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, though volume was light, reaching just 1.66 billion shares and 1.76 billion shares, respectively.

"It looks to me like a lot of investors believe [last week's] pullback provides an opportunity to step back into the market," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist with Windham Financial.

He also noted that the S&P tagged its 20-day moving average in the prior session's selloff. "That's the natural point for the market to stop here, so there's basically a support right at that level," he said. "A lot of the activity you're seeing today is more technical in nature."

Pavlik noted that Friday's slide occurred amid the lowest-volume day since Dec. 28. "I think that's pretty telltale, that the market isn't that interested in selling things off just because oil prices are going higher," he said. "I get a sense from the market that many are expecting a pullback in oil, and what's been driving it is largely speculation."

A new record for crude oil accompanied the last session's equities plunge, but today futures were in retreat, and that appeared to help bolster investor sentiment. Crude ended down $1.73 at $124.23 a barrel.