Stocks Shine in Gold's Aura

(Updated with closing stock and commodity prices.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks marched higher Tuesday as the dollar weakened and gold hit a new high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished higher by 132 points, or 1.4% to at 9731, while the S&P 500 advanced 14 points, also 1.4%, to 1055. The Nasdaq Composite ran up 35 points, or 1.7%, to 2104.

The U.S. averages followed stocks abroad higher as Australia's central banksurprised investors by raising interest rates.

"I don't think [Australia's move]will be a catalyst for a near-term change in the U.S. or the E.U. but it does send a signal to the direction monetary policy will be taking over the next 12 months, so in that sense it was positive news," says RidgeWorth senior investment strategist Alan Gayle. "They obviously feel like they can begin to lean against the expansion.

"At some point, higher interest rates will worry the market, but the clear signal to the market today is that there is a central bank that has enough confidence in the direction of the economy to begin raising rates," he says.

The dollar weakened on that note and after a media report by U.K. newspaper the Independent -- later denied by Saudi and Russian authorities -- said Gulf Arab states were in secret discussions with Russia, China, Japan and France to replace the use of dollars in oil trading with a basket of currencies.

Benchmark crude for November delivery rose 47 cents to settle at $70.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold for December delivery was up $21.90, to $1,039.70 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Bond prices slipped, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note up to 3.26 percent from 3.23 percent late Monday.