Stocks Rise Slightly On Post-Memorial Day Trading

New York, NY (AHN) - U.S. stocks were up slightly after Monday's Memorial Day holiday. The Dow gain 34 points at 12,513 points at 9:54 Eastern.

In other trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 21 points in early trading to 2,486 points and the broader Standard and Poor's 500 index inched up four points to 1,380.

Just before the bell, a report was released showing existing home sales for March were down 14.4 percent. On Friday, the realtors announced homes still on the market in April hit a 23-year high.

Friday, partly reacting to the housing figures and rising oil prices, the Dow closed 145 points down with both the S&P and Nasdaq also losing ground.

In commodities, crude oil rose almost $2 to $130.25 a barrel. The AAA reported the average price of a gallon of gas hit $3.937.

A stronger U.S. dollar sent gold prices plummeting, falling $15.80 to $910 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.