Stocks Manage Slight Rally

Updated from 4:08 p.m. EST

Stocks finished marginally higher Thursday, with the tech sector enjoying a small rebound from Wednesday's deep losses, after softer, but largely positive, economic data and some strong retail sales results.

The Dow improved 24.81 points, or 0.2%, to 10,495.55; the Nasdaq climbed 5.42 points, or 0.3%, to 2019.56; and the S&P 500 rose 2.09 points, or 0.2%, to 1128.61.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was 1.57 billion shares, while 1.91 billion shares exchanged hands on the Nasdaq. Advancers edged decliners by about 5 to 4 on the Nasdaq and were close to even on the NYSE. ...