US stocks advanced after Hewlett Packard and Home Depot announced better than expected quarterly results.

Tuesday was yet another volatile session and major stock indexes oscillated between gains and losses for most part of the session. Most of the gains came in last hour of the trade.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 151.17 points, (+1.83%) to close at 8,424.75. The S&P 500 advanced 8.37 points (+0.98%) to 859.12. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.22 points (+0.08%) to 1,483.27.

World's largest PC maker, Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) soared $4.25 or 14.49% to $33.59 after it surprised the markets with its better than expected preliminary fourth quarter results. The company said that it expects its fourth quarter net income to rise to 84 cents a share from 81 cents in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Sales are expected to climb 19% to $33.6 billion. Excluding one -time charges, company earned $1.03 a share, exceeding average analyst estimates of $1. Palo Alto, California-based company said that adjusted earnings for the current fiscal year will range between $3.88 and $4.03 a share, higher than the average analyst estimate of $3.86 a share.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) climbed 71 cents or 3.55% to $20.71. The company announced on Tuesday its third quarter profit dropped 31% to $756 million, or 45 cents per share, from$1.09 billion, or 60 cents per share in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue fell 6% to $17.78 billion. Analysts on an average expected the company to earn 38 cents per share on revenue of $17.74 billion.

Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) soared 93 cents or 4.71% to $20.67.

Energy stocks gained. Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) rose $2.95 or 4.02% to $76.33. Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) increased $2.73 or 3.86% to $73.51.

Shares of Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) rallied 92 cents or 8.65% to $11.55.
 
Late on Monday, Jerry Yang 40, who also happens to be the co-founder of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), announced that he will step down as CEO as soon as a replacement is found. The announcement didn't came as a surprise to many as it was expected after Yang failed to strike a deal with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOGLE). In a statement Yang said "I will continue to focus on global strategy and to do everything I can to help Yahoo realize its full potential and enhance its leading culture of technology and product excellence and innovation."

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) added 43 cents or 2.24% to close at $19.62.  International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) gained 2.60 or 3.36% to $80.08.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) fell 53 cents or 5.96% to finish at $8.36. On Monday, Citigroup announced that it is plans to slash about 53,000 jobs in the near-term and to cut expenses by 20%.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) dropped $1.62 or 3.93% to $39.56.

In a testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, General Motors Corp.