Wall St.: Thanks, Wal-Mart

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wal-Mart led a broader stock market rally Tuesday morning, as investors piled back into stocks after a turbulent period that left the Dow Jones industrial average below 13,000 for the first time this fall.

The Dow Jones industrial average (Charts) added around 100 points in the early going. The S&P 500 (Charts) index added 1 percent and the Nasdaq composite (Charts) added 1.2 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 5.5 percent higher.

Wal-Mart was one of 26 Dow components rising in the morning, reflecting the broad scope of the early 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 that fiscal-year profit will drop from a year earlier.

Also helping the early mood on Wall Street was a retreat in oil prices, from near record levels. U.S. light crude oil for December delivery fell $1.12 to $93.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for December delivery fell 20 cents to $807.50 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 both the euro and the yen.

Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 4.23 percent from 4.22 percent late Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.