Tech, Banking Stocks Send Indexes Higher

Stocks closed higher on Wall Street Tuesday and oil prices eased as investors remained focused on the outlook for inflation. The indexes more than made up for a modest pullback for stocks to start the week, the AP reports. Energy stocks slipped as oil prices fell. The S&P 500 rose 50.43 points, or 1.1%, to 4,511.61. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 254.47 points, or 0.7%, to 34,807.46. The Nasdaq rose 270.36 points, or 2%, to 14,108.82.

The price of US benchmark crude oil fell 0.3% to settle at $111.76 per barrel, while Brent, the international standard, slipped 0.1% to settle at $115.48 per barrel. Bond yields continued to rise a day after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank was prepared to move more aggressively in raising interest rates in its fight against inflation, if it needed to. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.38%.

Banks helped send the market higher as bond yields continued rising. Communications and technology stocks also drove a big share of the gains in the S&P 500, as did companies that rely on consumer spending. Twitter rose 2.6% and Apple gained 2.1%. Nike added 2.2% after reporting surprisingly good third-quarter financial results. Investors will soon start readying for the next round of corporate earnings reports as the current quarter nears its close at the end of March. (More stock market stories.)