Wall Street closed higher overnight, led by financial shares as a number of companies posted better-than-expected results, helping to reassure investors about the ongoing corporate reporting period.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 132 points to 10,081. The S&P500 Index added 12 points to 1,093 and the NASDAQ rose 15 points to 2,165.
In economic news. Around 531,000 Americans filed new claims for unemployment last week, down from 520,000 the previous week. Continuing claims for a week or more fell to 5.92 million from 6.02 million in the week before.
The index of leading economic indicators rose 1% in September after rising 0.4% in the previous month.
The US Federal Housing Finance Agency's housing price index fell 0.3% in September after rising 0.3% in August.
In company news: Travelers (NYSE:TRV) shares jumped 7.66% to $51.70. The insurer announced its quarterly profit more than tripled, easily topping analysts' predictions. Travelers also lifted its full-year forecast to a profit of between $5.30 and $5.50 per share.
AT&T (NYSE:T) shares gained 0.62% to $26.10 as the company reported a better than expected third quarter profit thanks to the impact of Apple's iPhone, for which it’s been the exclusive carrier. Wireless revenue jumped 10% in the quarter.
McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) shares rose 2.01% to $59.50. The restaurant giant reported higher third-quarter earnings that topped expectations on weaker third-quarter revenue that missed estimates.
3M (NYSE:MMM) shares added 3.22% to $78.79, after the company said third-quarter earnings and revenue fell from a year ago, but both were above analysts' estimates.
Checking the NASDAQ Top 100: The best performer was Sears Holdings which gained 5.33% to $73.93, followed by Check Point Software and Seagate Technology.
Amgen was the NASDAQ’s worst performing overnight, falling 4.29% to $56.85. Ebay and Citrix Systems also finished lower.
