General Electric Co shares also rose, on news that GE and InVision Technologies Inc tentatively agreed to settle lawsuits related to GE's proposed acquisition of InVision, a security technology company.
Two lawsuits related to the deal have been consolidated under one lead case, and if the court approves the settlement, the lawsuits will be dismissed, InVision said.
GE shares rose US$0.22, or 0.7 percent, to US$32.58, while InVision shares added 5 cents, or 0.1 percent, to US$49.85.
On NASDAQ, Blackboard's stock rose US$6.01 to close at US$20.01, up almost 43 percent from its IPO price of US$14 a share. During the session, it hit a high of US$23.40 -- up 67 percent.
Fears about higher energy prices eased after an official said Iraq's oil exports could resume on Saturday, if test runs succeed on a southern oil pipeline, which had been damaged by sabotage.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude prices were down for most of the session. But the NYMEX July crude futures contract settled up US$0.29 at US$38.75 a barrel, reflecting the market's skepticism over plans to resume Iraqi exports this weekend.
Still, crude prices are down about 10 percent from their June 2 peak of US$42.45, the highest in the 21 years that oil futures have traded on the NYMEX.
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