Wall Street gains ground, turning higher for the week

Stocks rose on Wall Street Wednesday, lifting major indexes into the green for the week as investors were cheered by signs that consumers remain resilient as well as strong corporate earnings reports.

The S&P 500 rose 1.4% as of 12:40 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 493 points, or 1.5%, to 33,343 and the Nasdaq rose 1.5%.

Consumer confidence remains surprisingly strong, despite inflation squeezing household budgets. The Conference Board reported Wednesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 108.3 in December, up from 101.4 in November. It's a sharp rebound, pushing the index to its highest level since April.