Wall Street gained as investors opted to focus on American corporate earnings that surpassed expectations, while the latest economic data bolstered the case for the Federal Reserve to maintain its stimulus measures.
Shares of Coca-Cola jumped, last up 5.4 per cent, as the company posted profit that beat forecasts. Johnson & Johnson also did better than expected, boosting its stock 1.9 per cent.
Investors bet that the latest economic data offered enough reasons for the Fed to keep at their efforts to fuel the pace of the world's largest economy.
The consumer price index unexpectedly slipped 0.2 per cent in March, industrial production expanded a better-than-expected 0.4 per cent last month, while factory output fell 0.1 per cent, and housing starts rose 7.0 per cent in March to the highest rate in almost five years.
"I don't think we should be complacent" about the economic outlook, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said today in a speech, according to Bloomberg News.