Tech Stocks Lead Gains on Wall Street

Updated from 4:21 p.m. EDT

Stocks in the U.S. closed a jagged session higher Tuesday as investors latched on to the reassurance of retreating oil prices and picked up equities despite mixed economic and corporate news.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average bumped ahead in the morning, then dipped into the red at midday before clambering up 68.72 points, or 0.55%, at 12,548.35. All told, the index swung in a range of some 130 points. The S&P 500 added 9.42 points, or 0.68%, at 1385.35.

The Nasdaq Composite performed best, jumping 36.57 points, or 1.5%, at 2481.24, thanks in part to strengthening technology stocks such as Apple (AAPL Quote), Amazon.com (AMZN Quote) and Google (GOOG Quote).

Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist with Schaeffer's Investment Research, pointed out that trading volume remained thin throughout. "It seems like traders are still getting back from the three-day weekend hangover," he said. "It's a nice break, though, from the aggressive selling last week."

Indeed, last week's action left the major indices in tatters, though Friday saw volume that was about as spare as it was on Tuesday to start this holiday-shortened week. At the close of trading today, the New York Stock Exchange had seen only around 1.77 billion shares change hands, and the Nasdaq's volume had reached only 1.74 billion. Advancing issues topped decliners by about a 3-to-2 margin on the NYSE, and the Nasdaq booked a winning ratio of 2-to-1.

Simultaneously, crude oil shed $3.34 to settle at $128.85 a barrel. That seemed to weigh on the Dow's oil-and-gas components, Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote) and Chevron (CVX Quote), shares of which were off 1% and 1.1%, respectively.