The New York equities markets were higher in early afternoon trade on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.84 percent to 13,617.78.
The Nasdaq Composite was 1.92 percent higher to 2,610.69, while the S&P 500 had added 1.15 percent to 1,493.72.
The gains came on comments from the Federal Reserve on Tuesday that it expects the US economy to continue to grow moderately and after Cisco Systems (NAS: CSCO; SEHK: 4333) said its profits were up by 25 percent in the most recent quarter and upped its revenue prediction for the full year.
Cisco gained $1.78 to $31.47 after it made its report.
Meanwhile, house builder Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) said that revenues are down 21 percent in its preliminary third-quarter report and refused to provide an earnings guidance in what it called a volatile market.
Still, Toll Brothers added $1.06 to $24.01 because the declines weren’t as steep as analysts had expected them to be.
That, and a statement from KB Home (NYSE: KBH) that it had used cash on hand to repay $650 million in debt sent the sector higher.
KB added $3.36 to $36.42, while DR Horton (NYSE: DHI) was up $1 to $18.39, Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) was $2.46 higher to $22.84, and Centex (NYSE: CTX) gained $2.73 to $38.40.
Financial services also saw gains.
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) added 70 cents to $34.97, Citigroup (NYSE: C) gained 88 cents to $49.47, and Bank of America was 94 cents higher to $49.61.
Meanwhile, Lehman Brothers was up $4.44 to $65.15, while Goldman Sachs added $5.55 to $196.80 and Bear Stearns was $7.35 higher to $124.24.