Stocks kicked on after a cautiously firmer opening, helped, somewhat paradoxically, by some underwhelming economic data.
The New York Federal Reserve Bank's Empire State manufacturing index for October stayed in negative territory at -11.4 from -14.7, while the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index also stayed in the red at -4.5, having been -6.0 in September.
Jobless claims and inflation figures were a bit more in line with expectations.
“Both Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims have moved towards cycle lows (in fact, the monthly average for initial claims dropped to its lowest level since December 1973). Despite what was the worst jobs report of 2015, the weekly claims figures continue to suggest that the US labor market remains tight; these figures are part of the bedrock of the argument that the Federal Reserve should raise rates sooner rather later (with later now coming in as March 2016),” opined Christopher Vecchio, a currency analyst at DailyFX.
"Elsewhere, the September US consumer price index report proved resilient, despite recent concerns that the next bout of disinflation is washing across the globe. In sum, price pressures in the United States remain muted, but they’re not fading as precipitously as markets previously anticipated. While it’s unlikely that the data feeds into the narrative that the Fed missed the boat by not raising rates in September, it will at least provide a somewhat-hawkish counter argument to recent economic trends,” Vecchio suggested.
The Dow Jones clawed back much of yesterday's losses, rising 123 points to 16,989.
The S&P 500 rose 16 points to 2,010, while the Nasdaq Composite was 40 points higher at 4,823.
A rising tide may lift all boats but it was not doing much for hard disk technology firm Seagate (NASDAQ:STX), which crashed to US$41.44 from US$47.80 overnight, after it flagged a 23% year-on-year fall in revenues.
The company expects fiscal first quarter revenues will be around US$2.8bn, below the guidance range of US$2.9bn to US$3.1bn previously issued.
Sat-nav company Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) was heading in the wrong direction, retreating U$$5.41 to US$31.55, after the company warned last night that the strength of the dollar would hamper revenue growth.
Video streaming outfit Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) tumbled almost ten dollars to US$100.33 after it blamed weaker-than-expected growth in US subscribers in the third quarter on the transition to the chip and pin system of payment.
Banking giants Citi and Goldman Sachs kept the banking results ticking over.
Citi (NYSE:C) climbed 4% to US$52.74 after its third quarter earnings topped expectations, as they have done in every other quarter this year.
Legal fees plunged to US$376mln from US$1.6bn the year before, contributing in no small part to a 51% increase in pre-tax profit to US$4.3bn.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs's (NYSE:GS) numbers came in short of analysts' estimates, but the market was in forgiving mood, as the shares hardened US$3.96 cents to US$183.47.
Net income dropped by 36% to US$1.43bn, equivalent to US$2.90 a share, from US$2.24bn (US$4.57 a share) the year before.
The median forecast of analysts covering the stock was for earnings per share of US$3.
Cigarettes maker Philip Morris (NYSE:PM) puffed up its earnings guidance a smidgen after third quarter revenues and earnings came in ahead of forecasts, sparking a 2.1% rise in the stock to US$85.53.
On the other side of the healthcare coin, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) fell 1.9% to US$119.79 on its third quarter update after declaring net profits not much changed from a year earlier.