The Dow Jones Industrial Average drifted up 30.69 points (0.29 percent) to close at 10,464.40, its best closing level since Oct. 2, 2008.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 6.87 points (0.32 percent) to 2,176.05 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index added 4.98 points (0.45 percent) to 1,110.63.

Market action came after a series of economic reports that sent mixed signals to traders. Trading was quiet with many participants absent ahead of Thanksgiving Day holiday.

One report showed initial claims for U.S. jobless insurance benefits plunged to their lowest levels since September last year.

The adjusted number of new unemployment claims in the week ending Nov. 21 decreased by 35,000 to 466,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 501,000.

Other data showed U.S. incomes rose 0.2 percent and consumer spending jumped 0.7 percent in October, helped by a rebound in auto sales. A third report showed orders for durable manufactured goods fell 0.6 percent in October.

"Both the personal income and spending, and initial claims, reports produced positive surprises," said Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com.

"The durable orders data was disappointing, but a sizable upward revision to the prior month neutralized the weak October reading."

The market gained momentum after data showing a 6.2 percent rise in new home sales.

"Housing is coming back and should continue to add to growth going forward," said Joel Naroff at Naroff Economic Advisors. "I don't expect any boom to occur but further small steps would be good news."

Fred Dickson at DA Davidson & Co said the market is churning to digest its gains but with a positive bias.

"Historically, the trading session before the Thanksgiving holiday, which for many will extend through Monday, produces small gains in the equity market as traders pull in some of their short positions," he said.

"Looking beyond the Thanksgiving holiday season, we expect the stock market to spend most of December consolidating recent gains with periods of short rallies and small pullbacks, but remain closely hinged to the movement in the dollar in the currency markets."

Among key stocks, Microsoft fell 0.40 percent to US$29.79 after the software giant announced the departure of chief financial officer Chris Liddell.

Bristol-Myers Squibb gained 1.95 percent to US$25.65 after the pharmaceutical group said the sale of a stake in Mead Johnson baby products would result in a gain of more than US$7.6 billion.

Retail shares were in focus as the key holiday shopping season approached. J Crew rallied 7.83 percent to US$44.05 after announcing better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Luxury retailer Tiffany climbed 4.92 percent to US$43.89 after it reported solid earnings and boosted its outlook for 2010.

Bonds firmed, with the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond easing to 3.279 percent from 3.317 percent Tuesday and that on the 30-year bond at 4.238 percent from 4.257 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.