NEW YORK — General Electric Co. and other industrial companies pushed stocks higher after another choppy session Tuesday, the second straight day of gains.
It was the first back-to-back increase since the last week of August and only the third time the market has closed higher this month. On the five days the market closed lower in September, the Dow Jones industrial average lost between 100 and 303 points.
The Dow on Tuesday rose 44.73 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 11,105.85. The Dow moved between small gains and losses for much of the day, then turned higher in the last half-hour.
The Nasdaq composite gained 37.06, or 1.5 percent, to 2,532.15. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 10.60, or 0.9 percent, to 1,172.87.
Trading was quiet compared with the many wild swings the market has had since early August. The Dow traded in a range of just 153 points, the narrowest since July 26. The average daily range during August was 337 points. The last time the Dow traded in a larger range was November 2008, at the peak of the financial crisis.
Investors have been struggling with uncertainty over the European debt crisis and questions over the U.S. economy, said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research. That fear of the unknown has made markets especially volatile. Traders seem to be hanging on every piece of news or rumor out of Europe.
“It’s a difficult environment for a long-term investor,” Detrick said. “Any news can take you significantly higher or lower. There’s just so much volatility.”
European markets rose broadly Tuesday. Major French banks soared after BNP Paribas denied it had trouble borrowing dollars from other banks and investors in short-term credit markets.
Italy’s finance minister also confirmed that officials had met with China’s sovereign wealth fund about buying Italian bonds.
Apple, part of the Nasdaq composite, rose 1 percent. Morgan Stanley said the company was more likely than ever to reward investors with a dividend or through buying back its stock.
GE rose the most of the 30 stocks in the Dow, gaining 2.6 percent to $15.41.
Cummins Inc., a fuel-efficient engine-maker, topped all 500 companies in the S&P 500 index, leaping 6 percent to $92.20.
