Jones Industrial Average rose 102.30 to 12654.85, as 28 of its 30 component stocks moved upward. The DJIA was in positive territory throughout the day, but made a late run to achieve the 100-point gain, its biggest point and percentage upswing so far this year. The S&P 500 added 10.89 to 1444.26, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 9.50 to 2459.88. The gains broke a three-day losing streak for all three indexes.

“A flow of private-equity buyers, strategic buyers and companies buying back their own stock,” combined with a sense that “the [Federal Reserve] is out of the way for the time being” with respect to interest rates, have powered the broad rise, said Jim Awad, chairman of Awad Asset Management.

However, investors will be watching for “anything that causes the Fed to come off the sidelines” and raise or lower rates, said Spencer Clarke Chief Market Strategist Michael Sheldon.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to begin two days of testimony before Congress tomorrow.

Alcoa shares jumped 6.4% to $35 after reports that BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are each considering a $40 billion bid for the Dow-industrials component. Both BHP and Rio advanced in London trade. Alcan, another company discussed as a possible target, added 4.9% to $54.75.

The Alcoa talk “is bringing people’s attention back to potential [merger-and-acquisition] deals,” said Robert Pavlik, chief investment officer at Oaktree Asset Management. M&A speculation encourages market bulls because stockholders can often earn a substantial premium over the price at which shares are being traded when the deal is announced.

Shares of 3M rose 2.5% to $76.43 after the company said late Monday that it plans to buy back as much as $7 billion of shares in the next two years, its biggest buyback plan ever.

Shares of GM added 2.5% to $36.59 after Merrill Lynch upgraded the auto maker to “b