U.S. stocks rose to fresh closing records Thursday, buoyed by a string of solid earnings reports.
Forecast-beating results have helped ease investors' worries that supply-chain difficulties would dent profits, sending stocks higher throughout the month of October. With nearly half of S&P 500 companies having posted results this reporting season, about 82% of those have managed to beat analysts' expectations for earnings, according to FactSet data from Thursday morning.
"Earnings growth has been very strong," said Kiran Ganesh, multiasset strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management, adding that investors had also taken comfort from slow progress in Washington toward legislation that would raise taxes on companies and wealthy individuals.
The $S&P 500 index(.SPX.US)$ rose 44.74 points, or 1%, to 4596.42, posting its 58th record of the year. The $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US)$ gained 212.28 points, or 1.4%, to 15448.12 and posted its first closing high since September.
The $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US)$ added 239.79 points, or 0.7%, to 35730.48, barely missing its Tuesday record.
Stocks rose broadly Thursday, with all 11 sectors of the S&P 500 ending the day higher.
Shares of $Ford Motor(F.US)$ jumped $1.35, or 8.7%, to $16.86. The car maker late Wednesday restored its dividend and raised guidance for profits in 2021.
$Caterpillar(CAT.US)$ shares added $7.96, or 4.1%, to $204.09 after the manufacturing giant reported better-than-expected earnings, as well as a jump in sales of construction machinery and mining and energy-related equipment.
Shares of $The Carlyle Group Inc(CG.US)$ rose $1.20, or 2.2%, to $56.32 after the private-equity firm reported a jump in third-quarter earnings.
$Twilio(TWLO.US)$, the acquisitive communications software firm, slid $60.73, or 18%, to $284.93 after projecting a wider loss for the fourth quarter than analysts had expected.
Overseas, markets were mixed.
The Stoxx Europe 600 edged up 0.2%, as gains for food-and-drink stocks offset losses for auto makers.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, reported a rise in revenue and profits, boosting shares by 10%.
Royal Dutch Shell shares slipped 3% after the energy company said it would halve emissions by 2030. The stock jumped Wednesday when The Wall Street Journal reported that Daniel Loeb's Third Point had taken a big stake in Shell and urged the company to break up.
In energy markets, benchmark European gas futures slipped after Russian President Vladimir Putin told state energy giant Gazprom to fill its storage sites in Europe from early November. The instruction eased fears among traders that Europe will run short of gas this winter.
Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1% after the Bank of Japan maintained its target for short-term interest rates at minus 0.1% and its target for 10-year government bond yields at around zero.
China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.3%.
Write to Joe Wallace at joe.wallace@wsj.com and Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com