Wall Street slightly higher as commodities gain

Stocks rose modestly on Tuesday as stronger oil prices led a rebound from the previous session when stocks closed at their lowest in a month.

Both U.S. crude and Brent futures rose more than 1.5 percent after Goldman Sachs raised its forecast for oil, citing strong fuel demand growth. Occidental Petroleum , the fourth-largest U.S. oil company, rose 2.2 percent while the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF was 1.8 percent higher.

The energy sector was one of the weakest on Monday, when rising concerns about euro-zone debt pressured equities, sending major indexes down more than 1 percent.

The move today is as much of a reaction to yesterday as anything else, said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia. It's especially helpful to have energy higher today, since that was one of the worst performing sectors yesterday.

Copper also rallied, gaining 1.5 percent after Goldman forecast an increase in Chinese purchases in the coming months. Gold prices rose 0.6 percent while the U.S. dollar index <.DXY> fell 0.2 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 17.33 points, or 0.14 percent, at 12,398.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 3.48 points, or 0.26 percent, at 1,320.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 2.56 points, or 0.09 percent, at 2,761.46.

U.S.-listed shares of Sony Corp <6758.T> rose 3.9 percent to $27.63 after the electronics maker said this year's operating profit would match last year's, easing worries about the impact of Japan's earthquake in March. Those concerns have contributed to weakness in the stock that pushed it to its lowest level since July.

In an expanding investigation into mortgage operations, New York's attorney general is seeking information from banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co , UBS AG and Deutsche Bank AG , according to a person familiar with the matter.

U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank fell 0.4 percent while Dow component JPMorgan rose 0.4 percent.

The U.S. Treasury is expected to sell 15 percent of its stake in American International Group Inc when the insurer prices its stock offering after the market closes. AIG was 0.8 percent lower at $29.75.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)