The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added 83 points, or 0.7% to close at 11,755.44 -- its highest level since September 2008.
Bank shares also got a lift Wednesday from Wells Fargo's upgraded outlook for the sector. "It's a group that lagged pretty badly in the fall, and they're still playing catch-up," said Timothy Ghriskey, CIO at Solaris Asset Management.
The S&P 500 (SPX) rose 11 points, or 0.9%, closing at 1,285.96 -- its highest level since August 2008.
The Nasdaq (COMP) gained 20 points, or 0.8%, ending the day at 2,737.33 -- a three-year high.
A rally in overseas markets spilled over to U.S. stocks early in the session as a solid auction of Portuguese bonds helped ease eurozone jitters.
"The bond offering went relatively decently for Portugal [and] that relieved the fears about a bailout." said John Wilson, Chief technical strategist at Morgan Keegan.
The Federal Reserve released its snapshot of economic activity for January Wednesday afternoon.
Known as the Beige Book, the report showed that the economy continued to grow moderately across the nation. Despite the lagging housing market, the Fed reported bright spots in manufacturing, retail, and non financial services sectors.
The December Treasury budget was also released Wednesday afternoon. The budget shortfall eased to $80 billion in December from $91.4 billion in the previous month.
The dollar lost ground against the euro and the British pound, but gained slightly against the Japanese yen.
Oil for February delivery settled up 75 cents to $91.86 a barrel.
Gold for February ended the day up $1.50 to $1,385.80 an ounce.
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