Banking, energy shares lead Wall St. higher

U.S. stock indices rose today, buoyed by energy and banking shares amid a lull in trading that helped shares recover some of their past losses. 

Commodities' recovery in markets today drew support from dollar's tumbles against a basket of rivals, in turn helping energy and minerals shares. 

On the other hand, markets await the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech on rate hike possibilities amid the current conditions in the American economy, especially after the dismal payrolls report. 

Standard and Poor's 500 rose 0.40%, or 8.47 points to 2,107.60, while Dow Jones gained 0.55%, or 97.97 points to trade at 17,905.03. 

Tech-heavy NASDAQ advanced 0.38%, or 18.66 points to hover around 4,961.18.