U.S. stocks managed to close in green territory after seesaw trading Tuesday, reversing from a three-day losing streak, as tech shares seemed to stabilize.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 10.40 points, or 0.06 percent, to 16,256.27. The S&P 500 added 6.92 points, or 0.38 percent, to 1,851.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 33.23 points, or 0.81 percent, to 4,112.99.
Following continued sell-off on Wall Street triggered by tech shares, investors showed reluctant to bet against U.S. stocks further, helping the market regain some steam.
Both the blue-chip Dow and the tech-rich Nasdaq still logged losses year to date while the broader S&P 500 just posted modest gains.
In the past couple of weeks, investors had been adjusting their positions, fleeing from momentum stocks to intrinsic-valued stocks amid tech-bubble concerns, dragging on major stock indices.
Shortly after the closing bell, aluminum giant Alcoa Inc released its mixed first-quarter earnings to unofficially kick off the new round of earnings season.
The former Dow component's shares rallied in after-hours trading as its revenues in the first quarter trailed market expectations while its profit beat analyst' forecast.
Looking ahead, major U.S. banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Company will publish quarterly results on Friday, providing clues for investors about how the U.S. economy is faring amid severe winter weather.
Latest data from Thomson Reuters showed first-quarter earnings of S&P 500 companies are expected to grow 1.0 percent from a year ago, while revenues are forecast to increase 2.8 percent from last year.
On the economic front, the latest Small Business Optimism Index increased 2 points to 93.4 in March, mostly reversing the February decline, the National Federation of Independent Business said Tuesday.
Most of the S&P 500's ten sectors rose, led by the sectors of utilities, consumer discretionary and energy.
The CBOE Volatility Index, the best gauge of fear in the market, dropped 4.37 percent to end at 14.89.
In other markets, the dollar tumbled against major currencies Tuesday and slumped versus the yen after the Bank of Japan left monetary policy unchanged.
In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.3794 dollars from 1.3739 dollars in the previous session. The dollar bought 101.65 Japanese yen, lower than 103.12 yen of the previous session.
Oil prices gained on renewed tensions over Ukraine. NATO's chief on Tuesday warned Russia against further intervention in Ukraine, after militants seized government buildings in several cities in the east of Ukraine.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery moved up 2.12 dollars to settle at 102.56 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for May delivery gained 1.85 dollars to close at 107.67 dollars a barrel.
Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on a weaker dollar. The most active gold contract for June delivery rose 10.8 dollars to 1309.1 dollars per ounce.
