Technology stocks are leading Wall Street to a higher close following strong earnings reports from Google and IBM.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 66 points to end at 13,779 Wednesday. Without the boost it got from IBM, the Dow would have closed flat.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up two points to 1,494. The Nasdaq composite rose 10 points to 3,153.

Investors were also encouraged by the fact that the House of Representatives voted to let the government keep paying its bills for another four months, delaying the threat of a disastrous default by the U.S. government on its debt.

Falling stocks narrowly outnumbered rising ones on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was in line with the recent average, 3.5 billion shares.