Investing.com - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday after better-than-expected earnings shifted investors' eyes away from concerns that emerging markets may be cooling, which frayed nerves in global stock exchanges in recent sessions.
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.57%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.61%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.35%.
Better-than-expected earnings from Ford, drug maker Pfizer and homebuilder D.R. Horton bolstered stock prices by painting a picture of improving U.S. economic fundamentals.
Also boosting prices, the Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence improved to 80.7 this month from a downwardly revised 77.5 in December.
Analysts were expecting the index to rise to 78.1.
Meanwhile a separate report showed that U.S. durable goods orders fell unexpectedly in December, though stocks continued their advance.
The Commerce Department reported earlier that durable goods orders fell 4.3% in December, confounding expectations for a 1.8% gain.
Core durable goods, which are stripped of volatile transportation items, orders fell 1.6% in December, the largest drop since March, compared to forecasts for a 0.5% increase.
Orders for core capital goods, a key barometer of private-sector business investment, fell 1.3% last month, confounding expectations for a 0.5% gain and after rising 2.6% in November.
Earnings and solid economic indicators brought in bottom fishers who snapped up nicely priced stocks after several sessions that saw declines on fears that emerging markets may be cooling.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Pfizer, up 2.55%, Visa, up 2.00%, and General Electric, up 1.54%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Cisco, down 1.20%, DuPont, down 1.07%, and Verizon, down 0.70%.
European indices, meanwhile, finished higher.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.73%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.98%, while Germany's DAX 30 rose 0.62%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished up 0.33%.
On Wednesday, stocks will move on the Fed's announcement on interest rates and monetary policy as well as its language.