The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 72.43 points, or 0.56 percent, to close at 12,943.82. Alcoa led the blue-chip gainers,while Home Depot slipped.
The S&P 500 rose 8.51 points, or 0.62 percent, to end at 1374.02. The Nasdaq rallied 24.85 points, or 0.84 percent, to finish at 2,976.08.
The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, finished below 17, hitting a two-month low.
Among the key S&P sectors, energy led the gainers, while utilities lagged.
“We’re caught in a trading range and we’re in purgatory until we get some clarity on the election, Europe, and the domestic economy,” said Dan Genter CEO and CIO of RNC Genter Capital. “But the good news is that all that’s mostly priced in, so we’re at a reasonable multiple.”
On the economic front, factory ordersrose 0.7 percent in May, according to the Commerce Department. Economists had expected a gain of 0.2 percent, according to a Reuters poll.
Stocks recovered most of their losses in the previous session to end flatamid hopes that the Federal Reserve will take more action to support the economy following a manufacturing report that showed an unexpected contractionfor the first time since July 2009.
"You're in a political year—The [QE] window is shut," said Todd Schoenberger, managing principal at The BlackBay Group. "The Fed would have announced a QE program last meeting when they extended Operation Twist."