Wall Street's big rally

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks rallied Tuesday, with the Dow climbing nearly 320 points, after Wal-Mart's earnings report, comments from Goldman Sachs' CEO and a nearly 4 percent slide in oil prices sparked a broad rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average (Charts) added just under 320 points according to early tallies, posting its second-biggest single day advance of the year. The S&P 500 (Charts) index added 2.9 percent and the Nasdaq composite (Charts) added 3.5 percent.

The Russell 2000 (Charts) small-cap index jumped 2.8 percent.

Treasury prices slipped, raising the corresponding yields. The dollar fell against the euro and gained against the yen. Oil and gold prices plunged.

Here's a look at what was moving stocks near the close.

Although the day's news was positive, it perhaps was not as positive as the stock market reaction would suggest, said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson.

"I think we had an oversold market due for a bounce," Dickson said. "Wal-Mart's news wasn't terrific enough to cause a major reversal, but it gave the bulls some support."

The Dow closed below 13,000 Monday for the first time since August, following a selloff from highs hit in October.

Dickson said that drop in oil prices also brought out some bargain hunters. Also helping Wall Street: a rally in the banking sector, sparked by comments from Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who said that the company won't take any further significant charges related to the subprime mortgage mess.

"There are little wisps of signs of stabilization in the most distressed credit markets, and you also have the Blankfein comments," Dickson said.

Stocks got an extra boost in the afternoon from the September pending home sales index, which rose 0.2 percent versus forecasts for a drop of 2.5 percent.

Wal-Mart Stores (Charts, Fortune 500) reported higher third-quarter earnings that topped estimates and lifted its full-year earnings forecast to a range that is higher than analysts' current forecasts. The world's largest retailer also issued a somewhat cautious outlook for the fourth quarter, which includes the crucial holiday period.

However, investors focused on the positive, sending shares 6.5 percent higher.

Wal-Mart was one of 26 Dow components rising, reflecting the broad scope of the advance. The remaining four Dow components slid, including fellow retailer Home Depot (Charts, Fortune 500), which reported lower quarterly earnings that missed estimates and said fiscal-year profit will drop from a year earlier.

Strength in the financial sector also propped up the advance.

Goldman (Charts, Fortune 500) shares rallied 7.8 percent after the firm's CEO said at a Merrill Lynch conference that the company won't take a big hit from its subprime exposure.

However at the same conference, BlackRock (Charts) CEO Laurence Fink said that the worst for the credit markets is not yet over. Fink is reportedly a top candidate to become chief executive of Merrill Lynch following Stanley O'Neal's resignation last month.

Bank of America (Charts, Fortune 500) shares also rose, even after the company said it would take $3 billion in writedowns related to its bad debt bets.

Citigroup (Charts, Fortune 500) shares jumped 6 percent and topped the New York Stock Exchange's most-actives list on published reports that it is reorganizing its investment banking unit in the aftermath of billions of dollars in credit losses.

Banks have taken more than $40 billion in charges this year related to the mortgage market fallout, according to AP and Deutsche Bank estimates.

E*Trade Financial (Charts) shares popped 14 percent after slumping 60 percent Monday on bankruptcy talk.

Apple (Charts, Fortune 500) led the list of large technology shares rallying. The tech leader rallied after China Mobile, China's largest cell phone carrier, said it was in talks with Apple to bring the iPhone to China.

Hewlett-Packard (Charts, Fortune 500), Oracle (Charts, Fortune 500) and Yahoo! (Charts, Fortune 500) were among the other big tech gainers.

Market breadth was positive and volume was strong. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners trounced losers by more than 3 to 1 on volume of 1.64 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners two to one on volume of 2.69 billion shares.

Also helping the mood on Wall Street was a retreat in oil prices, from near record levels. U.S. light crude oil for December delivery fell $3.45 to settle at $91.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, sliding after the International Energy Agency cut its monthly forecast on crude demand.

The drop in oil prices gave a lift to airlines, truckers and railroads, companies that are directly dependent on fuel prices to conduct their business.

The Dow Jones Transportation (Charts) average added 2 percent.

COMEX gold for December delivery fell $8.70 to settle at $799 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, stalling after a big selloff in the previous session.

In currency trading, the dollar continued to slump against the euro. The greenback inched higher against the yen.

Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 4.26 percent from 4.22 percent late Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.