Stocks poised to finish higher

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks were on track to finish the session modestly higher Tuesday as higher oil and gold prices provided some surprising comfort to investors jittery about the credit market crisis.

The Dow Jones industrials average (Charts) gained 0.4 percent with an hour remaining in the session, after turning lower at midday.

The broader S&P 500 index (Charts) rose 0.6 percent, while the tech-laden Nasdaq (Charts) climbed 0.4 percent.

"Today is almost a relief rally," said Jim Herrick, head trader at the Milwaukee-based investment firm Robert W. Baird. "We're up now, but anything can happen in the last hour."

Stocks seesawed earlier in the session as investors worried about more bad news from the financial sector after Citigroup (Charts, Fortune 500) warned over the weekend that it might suffer between $8 billion and $11 billion more in mortgage-related losses.

But those fears were offset by strength from the metals and energy sectors as oil and gold prices climbed to new heights.

Oil prices jumped more than $3 a barrel to a new record trading high of $97.07 a barrel on supply fears and a falling dollar. Light, sweet crude for December settled up $2.72 to $96.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Shares of oil majors such as Exxon Mobil (Charts, Fortune 500) and Chevron (Charts, Fortune 500) both climbed more than 2 percent in afternoon trade while the Amex oil index (Charts) was 2.2 percent higher.

Gold prices continued to trade at levels not seen since 1980, as COMEX gold for December added $13.70 to $824.50 an ounce.

That news lifted the AMEX Gold Bugs Index (Charts) nearly 4 percent higher in afternoon trade.

With no major economic reports on tap, investors were also closely focused on earnings news.

Energy firm Valero (Charts, Fortune 500) said Tuesday its quarterly results fell more than 20 percent, hurt by weak refining margins, but still managed to stay ahead of Wall Street forecasts.

Agricultural giant Archer Daniels Midland (Charts, Fortune 500) reported better-than-expected earnings before the opening bell, sending its shares over 6 percent higher on the New York Stock Exchange.

IndyMac Bancorp (Charts) reported a $202.7 million loss Tuesday and said it may eliminate next quarter's dividend, the mortgage lender said.

Sun Microsystems (Charts, Fortune 500) returned to a profit that matched Wall Street forecasts when it reported results late Monday. But revenue fell a bit short of estimates, sending shares down over 7 percent on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth was mixed. Advancers beat decliners by 6 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange on volume of 1.09 billion shares. Losers edged out winners on the Nasdaq as 1.98 billion shares traded hands.

Treasury prices fell, lifting the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.35 percent, down from 4.30 percent late Monday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The dollar retreated to a new record low against the euro and retreated against the yen.