NEW YORK: US stocks rose Tuesday, 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 per cent) to 13,954.42, just 1.5 per cent below its all-time closing high on October 9, 2007.

The SandP 500, a broad measure of the markets, advanced 7.66 points (0.51 per cent) to 1,507.84, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was flat, down a mere 0.64 point (0.02 per cent) 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 per cent.

Ford slumped 4.6 per cent 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 and Co. said in a market note.

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

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

Research in Motion tumbled 3.2 per cent a day ahead of its launch of the BlackBerry 10 smartphone. -- AFP