With few economic reports to go on, investors are focused on earnings. Better-than-expected results across many industries have helped push stocks higher.
Apple's earnings easily topped expectations thanks to strong sales of iPhones. Apple was the latest in a string of technology companies to report improving profits as the economy recovers. Intel Corp. and IBM Corp. also posted stronger sales and profits.
Morgan Stanley's first-quarter earnings rose after the bank saw a boost from trading.
Mike McGervey, president of McGervey Wealth Management in North Canton, Ohio, said the latest profit reports are so strong that stocks likely will keep climbing even though he thinks the market has run too far given the fragile economy.
"We have seen tremendous earnings," he said. "Companies today really have demonstrated a will to survive and be profitable literally almost in any environment."
Investors were also looking to Washington. A proposed tax on banks that could raise $90 billion over the next decade could be a drag on the financial industry and the broader market. The idea, first proposed by President Barack Obama in January, is gaining support in Congress and could be added to a bill overhauling financial regulation. Congress is working on revamping financial regulation.
In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 28.65, or 0.3 percent, to 11,145.71. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.15, or 0.3 percent, to 1,210.32. The Nasdaq composite index rose 6.72, or 0.3 percent, to 2,507.03.
Major indexes advanced again Tuesday. It was the Dow's eighth gain in the past nine days.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on Tuesday reported better-than-expected profit as well, but its shares dipped because of concerns around civil fraud charges the bank faces tied to its subprime mortgage securities business.
A rebound in oil prices after a nearly two-week slide helped energy stocks and the broader market as well.
Oil rose again Wednesday. Gold was also higher as the dollar was mixed against other major currencies.
Crude oil rose 84 cents to $84.39 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Apple rose $13.54, or 5.5 percent, to $258.13. The stock topped its previous record of $251.14 set Friday.
Morgan Stanley rose $1.23, or 4 percent, to $31.68.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.78 percent from 3.80 percent late Tuesday.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.83, or 0.3 percent, to 723.38.
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Yes Bank tumbled almost 5 percent to Rs 1,264.30 on BSE after the company said it has deferred its proposed qualified institutional placement of shares.
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