Wall St rises after selloff, investors cautious

Wall Street rose on Tuesday, a day after the S&P 500 hit its lowest level in over two months taking out important technical levels as investors grew more bearish on the economy, but analysts said a recent downtrend was likely to remain in place.

"We did get oversold and we're probably due for this bounce, but I don't think it's anything more than a bounce in a continued downtrend," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 53.88 points, or 0.45%, to 12,143.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 6.55 points, or 0.51%, to 1,292.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 12.21 points, or 0.45%, to 2,714.77.

The S&P 500 has fallen 5.1% since a recent high at the start of May and closed at its lowest level since March 18, having fallen through its April low in the last session. Some investors look for further volatility and a possible move lower before equities stabilize.

The declines in the market have left the S&P 500 up just 2.6% for the year so far.

The dollar fell 0.5% to a one-month low against a basket of currencies, helping to put a floor on commodity prices, after a Chinese official said the greenback would continue to weaken.

That helped commodity-linked shares. Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc rose 1% to USD 50.26, while Alcoa Inc added 0.9% to USD 15.74. The S&P's materials sector gained 0.4%.

Bank stocks, heavily sold in recent weeks, were also among gainers. Bank of America Corp rose 1% to USD 10.94, while Citigroup Inc rose 1.2% to USD 38.49. The KBW bank index was up 1.1%.

Also helping the rebound, European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet said a restructuring of Greece's public debt, which many in the market see as inevitable, is inappropriate as long as the government follows through on reforms.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak on the US economic outlook at a banking conference in Atlanta.

Fed officials have said recent data was a disappointment, and one, Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Fed, suggested it could delay the Fed's exit from its extremely easy monetary policy. Bernanke is set to start shortly before the market closes.