New York - Wall Street stocks followed European equity markets higher on Tuesday, surging in early trade after results from Alcoa kicked off quarterly earnings season.
About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17 913.28, up 272.44 points (1.54%).
The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 27.56 (1.36%) to 2 055.82, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 81.05 (1.74%) at 4 745.76.
Equity markets in France and Germany were both up more than 1.5% on speculation about monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank.
Alcoa slipped 0.6% after reporting earnings that translated into 33 cents per share, more than the 25 cents projected by analysts. The aluminium maker's results mark the unofficial start of quarterly earnings season.
"A good start to fourth-quarter reporting season is helping to offset further weakness in oil," said an investor note from Wells Fargo Advisors.
MetLife advanced 0.8% as it announced it will challenge in court a US regulatory designation as a "systemically important financial institution," a classification that subjects it to tougher scrutiny.
Homebuilder KB Home added 1.8% after fourth-quarter revenues jumped 15% to $2.4bn. Profit surged to $852.8m on an $824.2m tax benefit.
Apple rose 2.6% following an upgrade by Credit Suisse, while Best Buy rose 1.7% on an upgrade from Goldman Sachs.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 1.92% from 1.91% on Monday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.52% from 2.50%. Bond prices and yields move inversely.