U.S. stocks surged on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite extending gains into a fourth day, as investors embraced earnings from corporations including Apple, Texas Instruments and United Technologies.
"When you look at Apple, it almost takes your breath away. It's such a big company, and so important to the S&P 500 and the technology sector, so it has a lot of weight," said Hugh Johnson, chairman of Hugh Johnson Advisors, who owns Apple shares, but would not purchase more at current prices.
Verizon Communications gained after the wireless carrier tallied revenue above estimates; Coca-Cola and Chipotle Mexican Grill were active to the downside, as the beverage maker and Dow member cited currency headwinds in cutting its growth outlook, and the burrito chain signaled increased growth in quarterly sales would not continue forever.
Read MoreEarly Movers: MCD, VZ, KO, UTX, HOG, CMG & more
The CBOE Volatility Index, a gauge of investor uncertainty, fell more than 13 percent to 16.08.
"The stock market in late September was 4 percent overvalued and optimism was widespread; everybody knew corrections occur and we were overdue. Of course when they do happen it really shakes our confidence. We moved from being 4 percent overvalued at one point in time to 8 percent undervalued, so pessimism started to take over. We went from conditions that were bad for stocks to conditions that are good news for stocks," Johnson said.
Benchmark indexes held and then added gains after a report had sales of U.S. existing homes in September increasing to a.
Major U.S. Indexes
Retrieving its positive footing for 2014, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 215.14 points, or 1.3 percent, to 16,614.81, with Intel leading blue-chip gains that extended to 27 of 30 components.
Pulling above its 200-day moving average of 1,906.89, the advanced 37.27 points, or 2 percent, to 1,941.27, with energy the best performing of its 10 main industry groups.
The Nasdaq jumped 103.40 points, or 2.4 percent, to 4,419.48.
For every stock falling, five rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where nearly 815 million shares traded. Composite volume neared 4 billion.
The U.S. dollar gained against the currencies of major U.S. trading partners; the 10-year Treasury note yield used to figure mortgage rates rose a basis point to 2.201 percent.
Crude futures added 58 cents to $82.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where gold futures rose $7.00 to $1,251.70 an ounce.
Developments from overseas had Reuters reporting the European Central Bank is looking to purchase corporate bonds on the secondary markets.
And, Data on Tuesday showed China's gross domestic product grew 7.3 percent year-on-year in the July-September period, the slowest pace in nearly six years. Still,the figure was above forecasts for a 7.2 percent rise.
"There is an increased chance the growth slowdown from China will turn out to be less bad than currently feared from this point going forward," offered Nick Raich, CEO at the Earnings Scout.
Other Chinese data showed September industrial output increasing 8 percent year-on-year, beating estimates, but retail sales and fixed-asset investment both missed expectations.
"The economic data today was good enough to not have Chinese officials do more and maybe that's why the Shanghai index fell," Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at the Lindsey Group, noted in emailed comments.
On Monday, U.S. stocks climbed, with the S&P 500 marking its longest winning run in a month, as expectations for Apple's quarterly results outdid disappointment that came with a reduced outlook from International Business Machines.
—By CNBC's Kate Gibson
Coming Up This Week:
Wednesday
Earnings: AT&T, Boeing, Northrup Grumman, EMC, General Dynamics, Norfolk Southern, Abbott Labs, GlaxoSmithKline, Xerox, US Bancorp, Cheesecake Factory, LaQuinta, Varian Medical, Federal-Mogul, Angie's List, Ryder System, WR Grace, Stanley Black and Decker, Northern Trust, Dow Chemical, ABB, Yelp
8:30 a.m.: CPI
Thursday
Earnings: Microsoft, Amazon.com, Caterpillar, Celgene, Comcast, Daimler, Eli Lilly, General Motors, MMM, Occidental Petroleum, Juniper Networks, Pandora, Altera, Southwestern Energy, Raytheon, Alaska Air, Dunkin Brands, Sonus, Imax, JetBlue, Under Armour, Southwest Air, Credit Suisse, United Continental, Union Pacific, KKR, Alexion Pharma, Dr. Pepper Snapple
8:30 a.m.: Weekly jobless claims
9:00 a.m.: FHFA Home prices
10:00 a.m.: Leading indicators
Friday
Earnings: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Colgate-Palmolive, Ford, UPS, Procter and Gamble, Nasdaq, Delphi Automotive, State Street, Ericsson, Shire
10:00 a.m.: New home sales
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