U.S. stocks closed higher Tuesday, as investors were reassured by signs that a fiscal cliff deal may be taking shape. The dollar fell against the pound and the euro, and was little changed versus the yen. Light sweet crude oil for January delivery gained 73 cents to $87.93 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures dropped $27.50 to $1,670.70. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 115.57, or 0.87 percent, to 13,350.96. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 16.43, or 1.15 percent, to 1,446.79. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index moved up 43.93, or 1.46 percent, to 3,054.53.
