Wall Street rallied Tuesday as oil prices plunged sharply.

Crude oil prices declined more than one dollar per barrel due to unusual mild weather in the United States, which encouraged investors to buy stocks after three straight down sessions last week.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 64.41, or 0.52 percent, to 12,407.63.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 6.14, or 0.44 percent, at 1,416.90, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 12.33, or 0.51 percent, at 2,413.51.

Trading volume was light Tuesday after Christmas holiday as many investors are still on vacation.

Exxon Mobil, rose 64 cents to 76.05 dollars per share, as it got a contract from Libya's state-run National Oil Corp,

Microsoft Corp. gained 35 cents to 29.99 dollars despite computer security experts warned the company's newly released operating system, Windows Vista, contains potentially serious flaws.

In the retail sector, Wal-Mart jumped 57 cents to 46.11 dollars while Target fell 23 cents to 57.09 dollars.