Stocks recovered from an early wobble Monday, lifting the benchmark S&P 500 to its fourth-straight gain.
Technology companies led the broad move higher, outweighing losses in health care, materials and utilities stocks.
The S&P 500 index rose 18.34 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,724.87. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 175.48 points, or 0.7 percent, to 25,239.37. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 83.67 points, or 1.2 percent, to 7,347.54.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies picked up 15.48 points, or 1 percent, to 1,517.54.
The market got off to a weak start after the government reported that factory orders fell in November, but by midday major indexes had turned higher.
Investors remained focused on the latest batch of corporate earnings, including solid results from Clorox and Sysco. After the close of regular trading, Google parent Alphabet posted results that topped Wall Street's estimates.
Concerns over slower economic growth lingered in January, though solid company earnings helped offset some of those fears.
"Earnings have surprised to the upside," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. "That said, there is still a tug of war within the market as to whether or not the economy is in fact going to slow this quarter or beginning of next quarter."
Stocks got off to a sluggish start as traders weighed the government report showing U.S. factory orders declined 0.6 percent in November. The drop, attributed mainly to lower demand for machinery and electrical equipment, surprised economists, who had forecast a slight increase.
The report is one of many that were delayed by a monthlong government shutdown. The long list of missing indicators makes it difficult to gauge the health of the economy and has prompted a cautious outlook from analysts.
Traders shrugged off the possible implications of the report by midday, however, as their attention turned back to company earnings.
Clorox Co. climbed 5.7 percent to $158.38 after reporting earnings that came in ahead of analysts' forecasts. Sysco's latest quarterly snapshot also topped analysts' estimates, driving shares in the food distributor up 4.8 percent to $66.64.
Just under half of S&P 500 companies have reported results for the last three months of 2018. Of those, about 71 percent have turned in results that exceeded financial analysts' forecasts, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The market also has been riding a wave of momentum that began last week when the Federal Reserve signaled it sees no need to raise interest rates anytime soon. Another batch of strong monthly U.S. jobs data also helped put investors in a buying mood.
Papa John's jumped 9 percent to $41.97 on news of a $200 million investment from Starboard Value. Starboard Chief Executive Officer Steve Ritchie is also being named chairman of the troubled pizza chain.
Last week, the Louisville, Ky.-based company's stock plunged on reports that Trian Fund Management was no longer interested in a deal. Papa John's also had a weak fourth quarter.
Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and other newspapers, slid 2.2 percent to $10.97 after the company rejected a $1.36 billion buyout from Digital First Media, a hedge fund-backed media group with a history of taking over newspapers and slashing jobs.
Health care sector stocks lagged the broader market. Allergan slid 3.8 percent to $138.53, while Celgene lost 2.3 percent to $87.57.
Business on 02/05/2019