Banks led the major U.S. stock indexes mostly higher in late-afternoon trading Tuesday, placing the market on course to recover ground lost earlier in the day. Health care and consumer goods stocks also rose, while real estate companies were the biggest laggard. Energy stocks also fell following a drop in crude oil prices.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average was little changed at 19,882 as of 3:45 p.m. Eastern Time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,273. The Nasdaq composite index gained 24 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5,555. The Nasdaq closed at an all-time high on Monday.

THE QUOTE: A better-than-anticipated survey of small businesses helped lift the markets earlier in the day, before a brief late-afternoon pullback, noted David Chalupnik, head of equities for Nuveen Asset Management.

“I do think the market stays kind of quiet until it really hits earnings season,” Chalupnik said. “The market will really start to take its direction when earnings season starts in full, and that’s Friday.”

IN THE GENES: Illumina jumped 16.7 percent after it reported better-than-anticipated fourth quarter sales. The company also launched a new genetic sequencing system called NovaSeq. The stock led the gainers in the S&P 500, adding $23.61 to $165.15.

BIG SALE: Struggling drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals climbed 7 percent after saying it will sell more than $2 billion in assets. The stock rose $1.08 to $16.43.

HEALTHIER OUTLOOK: Zimmer Biomet added 7 percent after the medical device maker projected better-than-expected fourth-quarter sales. The stock rose $7.51 to $114.51.

BANK DEAL: Pacific Continental vaulted 25.7 percent on news that the holding company for Pacific Continental Bank will be bought by Columbia Banking System for $664 million. Pacific Continental shares added $5.35 to $26.15. Columbia shares slid $1.39, or 3.2 percent, to $41.92.

HIGH FLYER: Alaska Air Group rose 5 percent after the airline, which bought Virgin America in December, reported strong monthly results. The stock gained $4.42 to $91.89.

IN TRANSITION: Yahoo rose 2.3 percent after the internet pioneer said it plans to change its name to Altaba and announced that six of its 11 directors will resign from the board, including CEO Marissa Mayer and co-founder David Filo. The moves assume the sale of Yahoo’s internet business to Verizon will go through and reflect how the rest of Yahoo will become a holding company for investments in Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan. Yahoo shares gained 96 cents to $42.30.

BAH HUMBUG: Ascena Retail Group slumped 10.1 percent after the company slashed its profit forecast, citing holiday season sales, which fell for most of its store chains, including Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant and Dressbarn. The stock lost 60 cents to $5.41.

BIG DECLINER: Natural gas company Williams Cos. was down the most among stocks in the S&P 500 index, sliding $3.34, or 10.5 percent, to $28.59.

JOBS DATA: New government job market data indicates that U.S. employers posted more jobs in November, while more Americans quit their jobs. Both trends suggest job gains and wages may increase in the months ahead. The report echoes last week’s jobs report from the Labor Department, which showed a moderate gain of 156,000 new jobs in December and the biggest annual wage gains in more than seven years.

MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany’s DAX rose 0.2 percent, while the CAC40 of France inched up 0.1 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.5 percent, closing at a new all-time high for the ninth day in a row. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.8 percent, while the Kospi in South Korea slipped 0.2 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.8 percent.

ENERGY: U.S. benchmark crude oil lost $1.14, or 2.2 percent, to close at $50.82 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price oil sold internationally, fell $1.30, or 2.4 percent, to close at $53.64 a barrel in London. In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline slid 2 cents to $1.55 a gallon and heating oil fell 3 cents to $1.61 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 18 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $3.28 per 1,000 cubic feet.

BONDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.38 percent from 2.37 percent late Monday.

CURRENCIES: The pound held steady at $1.2163. The dollar fell to 115.73 yen from 116.06 in late trading Monday. The euro fell to $1.0560 from $1.0577.

METALS: The price of gold edged up 60 cents to $1,185.50 an ounce. Silver added 17 cents, or 1 percent, to $16.85 an ounce. Copper rose 7 cents to $2.61 a pound.