Wall Street Bulls Take the Win

U.S. automakers aired 30%-plus declines in December sales on Monday, but the problems are global. Toyota (TM Quote), which itself revealed a 37% decline in U.S. sales, is feeling the strain at home too. On Tuesday, the company said it would suspend production at all 12 of its plants in Japan for 11 days to adjust for the decrease in global demand.

News flow out of Macworld in San Francisco was light on Tuesday and Apple (AAPL Quote) traded down 1.7% to $93.02, but investors had eyes for other tech stocks. Research In Motion (RIMM Quote) added 7.7% to$ 46.61, Dell (DELL Quote) gained 4.2% to $11.05, and Hewlett-Packard(HPQ Quote) tacked on 8.2% to $39.31.

Tech stocks popped up in analyst actions as well. Oppenheimer upgraded Apple to outperform and raised its price target a day after CEO Steve Jobs wrote a "Dear Apple Community" letter on his health, reassuring investors he'd stay at the helm.

Also, Merriman upgraded Google (GOOG Quote) to neutral from sell, while Bernstein, which has an outperform rating, cut its estimates for the company. Google added 1.8% to $334.06.

In commodities, gold added $8.20 to settle at $866 an ounce, while oil shed 23 cents to settle at $48.58 a barrel. Compliance with OPEC supply cuts and the Israeli offensive in Gaza have played into headlines about recent rising oil prices. But more so is the intensifying gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine. According Reuters, flows of Russian gas through Ukraine to Bulgaria, Turkey, Macedonia, Greece and Croatia have come to a halt. The European Union, which relies heavily on Russia for its gas, is urging resolution.

Meanwhile, longer-dated Treasuries reversed after a multiday decline. The 10-year note was rising 8/32 to yield 2.5%, and the 30-year note was up 21/32, yielding 3%. The dollar reversed to be weaker against the euro and yen, and stronger against the pound.

Overseas, the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt edged higher Tuesday. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei ended higher and Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged down slightly.