The Dow rose 57.06, or 0.7 per cent, to 8,504.06. It climbed as high as 8,580.47 in earlier trading, but then pared its gains as the day went on.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.01, or 0.4 percent, to 923.33. The Nasdaq composite index rose 10.68, or 0.6 per cent, to 1,845.72.
US futures pointed to a lower open Thursday. Dow futures dropped 21, or 0.3 percent, to 8,427 and S&P futures gained 1.6, or 0.2 per cent, to 917.60.
Oil prices lingered above $69 a barrel in Asia, with benchmark crude for August delivery off 14 cents at $69.17. On Tuesday, it fell 58 cents to settle at $69.31.
The dollar traded at 96.61 yen from 96.51 yen. The euro was lower at $1.4112. -- AP