U.S. stocks are closing higher, boosted by encouraging quarterly results from several well-known companies.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 61 points to close at 13,390 Wednesday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose three to 1,461. The Nasdaq composite index rose 14 to 3,105.

On the New York Stock Exchange, for every stock that fell, another two rose.

Airplane maker Boeing rose 3.5 percent after falling for two days because of worries about technical problems with its 787s.

Consumer products maker Helen of Troy, whose brands include Dr. Scholl's and Vidal Sassoon, rose after reporting a 15 percent profit increase. Monsanto rose a day after reporting higher profits.

Volume was in line with the recent average at 3.6 billion shares.