NEW YORK (AP) - Strong corporate earnings pushed up stocks across industries on Tuesday, with the energy sector and small companies leading the gains.
Stocks rose from the open, then built on the momentum as investors sifted through mostly encouraging quarterly results. Whirlpool, AutoNation and engine-maker Cummins all rose 7 percent after reporting their results.
The surge in stocks in recent days is a turnaround from Oct. 15, when the Standard and Poor's 500 closed just short of a "correction," defined as a drop of 10 percent or more from a recent high. With the gains on Tuesday, the index has nearly erased all those losses.
Investors were cheered also by news that a key gauge of U.S. consumer confidence rebounded strongly in October. The Conference Board reported that its confidence index hit a seven-year high as solid job gains raised expectations for economic growth, an encouraging sign for retailers as they head into the holiday shopping season.
The S&P 500 rose 23.42 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,985.05. That puts it another strong day from it a record high. It's now just 26.31 points short of its Sept. 18 record close of 2,011.36.
All ten industry groups in the index rose, led by a 2.3 percent gain in energy stocks.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 187.81 points, or 1.1 percent, to 17,005.75. The Nasdaq composite climbed 78.36 points, or 1.8 percent, to 4,564.29.
The biggest gain was in the Russell 2000, a small stock index. It jumped 2.9 percent.