The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 208.43 points (1.76 percent) at 12,044.47.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite piled on 57.99 points (2.20 percent) to 2,697.97, while the S&P 500-stock index, a broader measure of the markets, gained 23.25 points (1.88 percent) to 1,261.15.
Analysts credited the continuing push upward to solid quarterly earnings reports.
"The results of American companies are generally positive. More than seven out of 10 firms have beaten the consensus estimates on earnings per share, and six out of 10 had better-than-expected revenues," said analysts at broker Aurel BGC.
New claims for unemployment insurance, an indicator of the pace of layoffs, were only slightly lower last week than the previous week, but analysts saw this as a bright sign.
"After an interruption in August when businesses halted hiring in the midst of an 'unusually uncertain' outlook, the downward trend in claims has resumed and points to slow but steady job growth," said Nomura Global Economics analysts.
Shares in foods giant Kraft added 3.3 percent after the firm announced bumper third-quarter earnings, while cellphone chip maker Qualcomm jumped 7.5 percent after beating earnings expectations and raising its sales forecasts for the coming year.
Jefferies Group recovered from a more than 10 percent plunge in its shares after rejecting a report that it had a dangerously large exposure to risky eurozone debt.
Insisting that most of its exposure was hedged, the company was able to coax its shares back up for a 2.1 percent loss on the day.
Transocean, whose drilling rig Deepwater Horizon was at the center of the 2010 BP well explosion disaster in the gulf of Mexico, saw its shares plunge 12.5 percent in heavy trade after it turned to a loss in the quarter following two solid quarters of gains.
Movie rental giant Netflix, under attack for raising its subscription fees in September, added 10.7 percent after rivals Blockbuster and Redbox jacked up their prices.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.07 percent from 2.01 percent Wednesday, while that on the 30-year Treasury climbed to 3.12 percent from 3.04 percent.
Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.