US stock indexes end higher, with help from energy companies; GM, Avanir are among the gainers

Gains in energy companies are leading the U.S. stock market to a higher close.

General Motors rose Tuesday after reporting stronger sales, and Biogen, a biotech company, soared following news that its drug for Alzheimer's disease showed promise.

Avanir Pharmaceuticals soared 13 percent on news that Otsuka Pharmaceuticals of Japan plans to buy the company

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 102 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,879.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 13 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,066. The Nasdaq composite rose 28 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,755.

Chevron and Exxon Mobil rose the most in the Dow, even as the price of crude oil resumed its decline.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.29 percent.