Tech leads stocks higher a day after biggest drop since May

Trader James Macgilvray works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. Stocks are opening modestly higher on Wall Street, making up some of the ground they lost in a sharp pullback a day earlier. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Robert Charmak works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. Stocks are opening modestly higher on Wall Street, making up some of the ground they lost in a sharp pullback a day earlier. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Vincent Napolitano works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. Stocks are opening modestly higher on Wall Street, making up some of the ground they lost in a sharp pullback a day earlier. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Jonathan Mueller works in his booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. Stocks are opening modestly higher on Wall Street, making up some of the ground they lost in a sharp pullback a day earlier. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Michael Capolino works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. Stocks are opening modestly higher on Wall Street, making up some of the ground they lost in a sharp pullback a day earlier. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Patrick Casey works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. Stocks are opening modestly higher on Wall Street, making up some of the ground they lost in a sharp pullback a day earlier. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Donald Himpele Jr. works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. Stocks are opening modestly higher on Wall Street, making up some of the ground they lost in a sharp pullback a day earlier. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Ben Tuchman, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. Stocks are opening modestly higher on Wall Street, making up some of the ground they lost in a sharp pullback a day earlier. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A late-afternoon rally in technology companies helped drive stocks higher on Wall Street Tuesday, placing the market on pace to recoup some of its losses following a sharp pullback a day earlier.

After veering between small gains and losses for much of the afternoon, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% as of 3:34 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also bounced back, gaining 116 points, or 0.3%, to 34,085, while the Nasdaq rose 0.7%.

Roughly 56% of stocks rose in the benchmark S&P 500 index, with technology companies accounting for a big slice of the gains. Apple rose 0.7%. The sector was the biggest decliner in a broad sell-off on Monday.

Health care companies also helped lift the market. Johnson & Johnson rose 0.8% after reporting that a booster of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine provides a stronger immune response months after people receive a first dose.

Only industrial companies fell.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged higher to 1.32% from 1.31% late Monday.

“It’s a bit of a pause and the market is waiting for the Federal Reserve to see what they have to say tomorrow,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

European markets were higher, and Asian markets mostly rose. Chinese markets remained closed for a holiday.

The market sell-off on Monday was prompted in part by worries about heavily indebted Chinese real estate developers and the damage they could do if they default and send ripple effects through markets. That added to a wide range of concerns hovering over investors, including the highly contagious delta variant as well as higher prices squeezing business and consumers.

Wall Street is also gauging how the recovery's slowdown will impact the Fed's policies that have helped support the market and economy. The central bank will release a policy statement on Wednesday, which will be closely watched for any signals on how it will eventually reduce its bond purchases that have helped keep interest rates low.

Several companies are making solid gains after giving investors encouraging financial updates. Ride-hailing company Uber jumped 12.1% after telling investors that it could post an adjusted profit this quarter. Equipment rental supplier Herc Holdings rose 6.4% following a solid long-term growth forecast.

Supply chain problems, which have been hurting a broad range of industries, weighed on several companies. Homebuilder Lennar was flat after home deliveries for the third quarter fell short of analysts' forecasts because of supply chain problems.

Restaurant operator Cracker Barrel fell 2.8% after reporting weak fiscal fourth-quarter financial results.

Universal Music jumped 35.7% in its debut on Amsterdam's stock exchange.