Strength in the housing and labor markets is key to sustained growth and higher corporate profits, helping to bring out buyers even on a day when earnings reports were mixed.
Gains were tempered by weakness in the financial sector, with Bank of America (BAC.N) down 4.2 percent to $11.28 and Citigroup (C.N) off 2.9 percent to $41.24 after their results.
In other negative earnings news, shares of chipmaker Intel (INTC.O) fell 5.2 percent to $21.49 in extended-hours trading after the company forecast quarterly revenue that fell short of analysts' expectations. Intel had ended the regular session up 2.6 percent at $22.68.
The S&P 500 ended at its highest since December 2007 and now sits just 5.6 percent from its all-time closing high of 1,565.15.
"Having consolidated really for the last two weeks, the fact that we broke out, I think that that is sucking in quite a bit of money," said James Dailey, portfolio manager of TEAM Asset Strategy Fund in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The Dow Jones industrial average finance/markets/index?symbol=us%21dji">.DJI was up 84.79 points, or 0.63 percent, at 13,596.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 8.31 points, or 0.56 percent, at 1,480.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 18.46 points, or 0.59 percent, at 3,136.00.
Better-than-expected earnings and revenue reported by online marketplace eBay (EBAY.O) late Wednesday helped the stock gain 2.7 percent to $54.33.
In the housing sector, PulteGroup Inc (PHM.N) shares gained 4.9 percent to $20.29 and Toll Brothers Inc (TOL.N) advanced 3.1 percent to $35.99. The PHLX housing sector index .HGX climbed 2.4 percent, reaching its highest close since August 2007.
Semiconductor shares .SOX rose 2 percent to the highest close in eight months.
Financials were the only S&P 500 sector to register a slight decline for the day.
Bank of America's fourth-quarter profit fell as it took more charges to clean up mortgage-related problems. Citigroup posted $2.32 billion of charges for layoffs and lawsuits.
Energy shares led gains on the Dow as U.S. crude oil prices jumped more than 1 percent. Shares of Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) were up 0.8 percent at $90.20 while shares of Chevron (CVX.N) were up 0.7 percent at $114.75.
S&P 500 earnings are expected to have risen 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter, Thomson Reuters data showed. Expectations for the quarter have fallen considerably since October when a 9.9 percent gain was estimated.
Volume was roughly 6.5 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT, compared with the 2012 average daily closing volume of about 6.45 billion.
Advancers outpaced decliners on the NYSE by about 22 to 7 and on the Nasdaq by about 2 to 1.
