All three major U.S. stock indexes rose in low-volume trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both climbed about four-tenths of a percent. And the NASDAQ gained half a point.

All three are on track for monthly, quarterly and annual gains, and seem buoyed after making it through 2023 without a major contraction.

Adam Coons in the chief portfolio manager at Winthrop Capital Management.

"Equity markets today are really just coming off of this Christmas lull where we did have a Santa Clause rally leading up into the Christmas holiday."

"Fed policy has, kind of, become more known, and so, its more stable, and so, I think we'll just end the year fairly quietly on low-volatility, except it may tick up a little bit higher just on low volume. But we don't see any real big moves coming up through the rest of the week."

The S&P 500 is on track to post its biggest quarterly gain in three years, and is within 1% of its all-time closing high reached in January 2022.

Energy shares on Tuesday enjoyed the heftiest percentage gain, boosted by surging crude prices as Middle East strife ratcheted up supply concerns, while optimism over Fed rate cuts fueled demand hopes.

Gracell Biotechnologies surged more than 60% after AstraZeneca said it will buy the China-based firm for up to $1.2 billion.

And Intel Corp advanced 5.2% following the Israeli government's agreement to endow a $3.2 billion grant for a $25 billion plant the chipmaker plans to build in southern Israel.