New York  - Major Wall Street indices gained Tuesday as price increases for oil and metals including gold fuelled a rally in commodity and energy shares.

The dollar hit a 2009 low against the euro, helping the commodity price hikes. The US currency dropped to 69.03 euro cents and 92.31 Japanese yen.

The price of crude oil climbed 4.5 per cent to 71.1 dollars per barrel, and gold futures climbed above 1,000 dollars per ounce. Copper jumped more than 3 per cent.

Shares of Alcoa, Chevron and Exxon Mobil climbed more than 2 per cent.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 56.07 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 9,497.34. The broader Standard and Poor's 500 Index was up 8.99 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 1,025.39. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 18.99 points, or 0.94 per cent, to 2,037.77. dpa