NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Nasdaq composite rose Tuesday, thanks to strength in technology and commodity shares, but the Dow industrials struggled after hitting more than three month highs last week.

The Nasdaq composite (up 12.54 to 2,205.70, Charts) added 0.6 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average (up 5.13 to 11,469.28, Charts) ended little changed, and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (up 2.24 to 1,313.25, Charts) index gained around 0.2 percent.

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Treasury bond prices slipped, raising the corresponding yields; the dollar was mixed versus other major currencies. Oil prices dipped, and gold prices jumped.

After the close, struggling automaker Ford Motor (Charts) said Boeing (Charts) executive Alan Mulally will take over CEO duties from Bill Ford, who will remain the chairman. Ford shares gained about 4 percent in extended-hours trading.

Also after the close, the world's largest chipmaker Intel (Charts) said it was cutting around 10 percent of its workforce, or 10,500 jobs, by the middle of 2007, confirming speculation. The cuts are part of a bigger restructuring plan intended to save the company about $2 billion. Intel shares lost about 1 percent in extended-hours trading.

Wednesday brings the latest read on second-quarter productivity. The report, due before the open, is expected to have been revised up to a 1.6 percent annual rate from a 1.1 percent initial rate.

Wednesday also brings the August services index report from the Institute for Supply Management, as well as the weekly oil inventories report and the Fed's beige book read on economic activity.

As of 6:00 p.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures pointed to a flat open for stocks Wednesday, when fair value is taken into account.

All three major gauges struggled in the morning, after last week's run and in response to a jump in Treasury bond yields. But the Nasdaq broke higher near midday and kept going from there, with investors scooping up technology and commodity shares.

Volume picked up from recent weeks, as traders filed back in after the long holiday weekend. U.S. financial markets were closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday.

Stocks gained in August and on Friday, the first day of September, as investors welcomed lower oil prices and reports that seemed to suggest the economy was holding up but not growing so aggressively as to put upward pressure on prices.

Such bets are likely to keep supporting stocks in the short term, said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co, as Wall Street attendance heats up this week after a typically slow end of summer.

"As people try to get back into the game, there's excitement about the prospect of an economy that shows strength and sustainable growth, but that isn't overly inflationary," he said.

In order for the market to build on recent gains, investors will be looking for more good news on the corporate front, as well as additional solid economic data and lower energy prices, he said.

What should keep helping stocks for the short term is that the sentiment has improved so much from even just two weeks ago, said Todd Salamone, director of trading at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

"A lot of negative sentiment had built up ahead of the most recent group of economic reports and as that pessimism continues to unwind, the market will continue to respond well," Salamone said.

This is a positive for now, Salamone said, in that there is still enough skepticism about the rally and the economy to counter the renewed eagerness. But he said there is a risk for stocks if too many people become bullish in the next few weeks.

The stock market is also near the top of its recent range, which could be a problem.

U.S. light crude oil for October delivery sank 59 cents to settle at $68.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices dipped after the discovery of a deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico raised hopes about an increased source of domestic oil production.

Shares of the three companies that discovered the well all rallied. Chevron gained (up $1.51 to $66.34, Charts) 2.3 percent, Devon Energy (up $7.99 to $72.14, Charts) jumped 12.5 percent and Norwegian partner Statoil (up $0.66 to $28.17, Charts) saw its American-traded shares gain 2.4 percent.

Viacom (down $2.08 to $34.89, Charts) shares slipped 5.6 percent on news that Tom Freston, its president and CEO, has resigned. The struggling media company will replace him with Philippe Dauman, a member of the Viacom board of directors. (Full Story).

Veritas DGC (up $7.89 to $70.07, Charts) jumped 12.7 percent on news that it has accepted a $3.1 billion buyout offer from Compagnie Générale de Géophysique, a French provider of gear and services to the oil and gas industries.

The rally in gold sent shares of gold stocks higher, with the Amex Gold Bugs (up $12.15 to $365.37, Charts) index adding 3.4 percent.

Among other stock movers, Bristol-Myers Squibb (down $0.17 to $22.78, Charts) and partner Sanofi-Aventis (down $0.58 to $44.79, Charts) both slipped modestly after warning late last week that earnings will be hurt this year by generic sales of their blood thinner Plavix.

A judge ruled last week that Canadian generic company Apotex must halt production of a generic Plavix but did not say the company must recall already distributed drugs.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers by more than 9 to 7 on volume of 1.34 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by more than 3 to 2 on volume of 1.76 billion shares.

Treasury prices slid, as traders took profits off the recent advance. The decline raised the yield on the 10-year note to about 4.78 percent from 4.73 percent Friday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar rose against the euro and slipped against the yen.

COMEX gold for December delivery rose $14.30 to $646.90 an ounce.

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