U.S. stocks end higher; technology rebounds

NEW YORK (MarketWatch)
U.S. stocks finished with modest gains Thursday as Wall Street continued to watch efforts to avoid the fiscal cliff, or spending cuts and tax hikes set to begin in January
"The market has held up reasonably well in the face of the posturing," said John De Clue, chief investment officer at U.S. Bank Wealth Management
"It's not a cliff, it's a slope, and maybe the market is saying there is more time than it seems, we may go technically over it, but we've got more time."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 39.55 points, or 0.3%, to 13,074.04
The S&P 500 index  advanced 4.66 points, or 0.3%, to 1,413.94
The Nasdaq Composite rose 15.57 points, or 0.5%, to 2,989.26, with the technology heavy index breaking a four-session losing streak