US stocks have risen, with the Dow hitting a fresh five-year high, as investors weighed company earnings and a mixed batch of economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 72.49 points (0.52%) to 13,954.42, just 1.5% below its all-time closing high on October 9, 2007.

The S&P 500, a broad measure of the markets, advanced 7.66 points (0.51%) to 1,507.84, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was flat, down a mere 0.64 point (0.02%) at 3,153.66.

“It just seems to be a bold move higher, with nothing else going on,” said Steven Rosen of Societe Generale.

“It is not a big move though.”

“Given some seemingly negative economic news,” Joe Bell of Schaeffer’s Investment Research noted, “the market showed great resilience”.

Investors shrugged off a weaker-than-expected consumer confidence reading to focus on positive corporate profit tallies.

Home prices continued to show a recovery in the housing market.

The action came as the Federal Reserve opened a two-day meeting amid expectations the Fed will keep ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged.

Pfizer, the world’s biggest pharmaceutical company, led the Dow gainers, jumping 3.2 per cent after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that topped expectations.

Hewlett-Packard was the blue-chip laggard, sliding 3.2%.

Ford slumped 4.6% after posting stronger-than-expected earnings but mixed forecasts for 2013.

The Nasdaq was “hamstrung by Yahoo Inc’s softer-than-expected guidance and VMware Inc’s disappointing revenue outlook,” Charles Schwab & Co said in a market note.

Yahoo! lost 3.0% and VMWare, a virtualisation software and cloud computing company, plunged 21.5%.

On the Nasdaq, Apple added 1.9% after debuting a new iPad with more storage capacity.

Research in Motion tumbled 3.2% a day ahead of its launch of the BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 1.99 per cent from 1.97% late on Monday, while the yield on the 30-year bond climbed to 3.17% from 3.15%.

Bond prices and yields move inversely.