U.S. stocks finished higher on Tuesday as technology shares powered a rebound in the broader market that propelled the Nasdaq Composite to its best day in nearly three weeks. The Dow rose 126.13 points, or 0.3%, to end at 42,080.37 at 4 p.m. Eastern time, according to FactSet data.

Wall Street's major equity averages swayed between small gains and losses Thursday, after September consumer inflation and weekly jobless claims surpassed estimates, data that will feed into the Federal Reserve's thinking on interest rates.