U.S. stocks ended higher on Tuesday as natural resource shares rose alongside commodities and Kraft's bid for Cadbury raised hopes about a pickup in merger activity.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 56.15 points, or 0.59 percent, to unofficially end at 9,497.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 8.86 points, or 0.87 percent, at 1,025.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 18.99 points, or 0.94 percent, at 2,037.77.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)