Mining stocks including Freeport McMoRan were among the biggest gainers, as copper prices posted the strongest daily gain in almost 1-1/2 years.
However, other economic reports were not as encouraging. The rate of growth in the U.S. services sector slowed in April, according to the Institute for Supply Management, hitting its weakest pace in nine months. And factory orders posted their biggest decline in seven months, according to the Commerce Department.
But Wall Street largely shrugged off both weaker-than-expected data.
Among earnings, AIG rallied after the insurer reported earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations, while revenue missed slightly.
LinkedIn posted quarterly results that topped expectations. But shares of the social-networking giant plunged after the company projected current-quarter revenue below consensus, disappointing analysts who expected growth to continue at its recent pace.
(Read More: Cramer: Here's Why LinkedIn Is Getting Creamed)
Earnings from Berkshire Hathaway will be in focus after the closing bell.
More than 80 percent of S&P 500 companies have posted quarterly results so far, with 68 percent topping earnings expectations and 21 percent missing forecasts, according to Reuters. If all remaining companies post numbers in line with estimates, earnings will be up 5.2 percent on last year.
But on average, sales have come in 1 percent below estimates, with only 46 percent of companies beating their revenue projections.
With earnings season coming to an end, Walt Disney is the only Dow component slated to report next week. Other notable S&P 500 companies expected to post results include Electronic Arts, Whole Foods, Dean Foods, Activision Blizzard, Nvidia and Priceline.com.
—By CNBC's JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC)
On Tap Next Week:
MONDAY: Flash crash anniversary; Earnings from Sysco, Tyson Foods, Anadarko, First Solar
TUESDAY: 3-yr note auction, consumer credit, Noka annual mtg; Earnings from HSBC, DirecTV, Discovery Comm., Walt Disney, Electronic Arts, Marathon Oil, Symantec, Trip Advisor, WholeFoods, Live Nation, WebMD, Zillow
WEDNESDAY: MBA mortgage applications, Fed's Stein speaks, oil inventories, 10-yr note auction, BofA shareholder mtg; Earnings from Toyota, Liberty Interactive, Liberty Media, AOL, Sodastream, Wendy's, Activision Blizzard, Green Mountain Coffee, Groupon, Monster BEverage, NewsCorp, Tesla Motors, Transocean
THURSDAY: BoE announcement, Fed's Lacker speaks, jobless claims, wholesale inventories, natural gas inventories, 30-yr bond auction, Fed's Plosser speaks, Fed balance sheet/money supply, Barclays's investor mtg, Ford annual mtg, weekly rail numbers, chain store sales; Earnings from Dean Foods, Dish Network, Sony, Nvidia, Priceline.com
FRIDAY: Fed's Evans speaks, Bernanke speaks, Fed's George speaks, Treasury budget, G-8 mtg; Earnings from ArcelorMittal, GoldFields
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