US stocks finished higher on Wednesday after an unexpected jump in durable orders and new home sales data boosted investor sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 89.84 points or 1.17% to finish at 7,749.81. The S&P 500 climbed 7.63 points or 0.95% to end at 813.88. The Nasdaq Composite gained 12.43 points or 0.82% to 1,528.95.

Shares climbed in the opening session on better than expected economic data.

According to Department of Commerce, orders for durable goods unexpectedly rose 3.4% in February. Economists on average had projected a decline of 2.5%.

In a separate release, the Commerce Department said that new home sales climbed 4.7% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 337,000 from an upwardly revised January figure of 322,000. Analysts had forecast a reading of 300,000.

Shares retreated in midsession after weak demand for a U.S. Treasury five-year note auction. However, a rally in financials helped stocks to bounce back in final hour.

J.P Morgan (NYSE: JPM) soared $2.16 or 8.18% to $28.56. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) surged 48 cents or 6.65% to $7.70.Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) added 92 cents or 5.94% to $16.42.

The largest US aluminum maker Alcoa (NYSE: AA) increased 40 cents or 5.46% to end at $7.72.

Shares of Boeing Co (NYSE: BA) rose 96 cents or 2.66% to end at $37.06.

Among energy stocks, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) gained 78 cents or 1.12% to $70.16. Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) finished at $69.70, up 73 cents or 1.06%.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) slumped 21 cents or 6.56% to $2.99.

Homebuilder Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) climbed 59 cents or 3.18% to $19.14.

According to reports, IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is planning to launch a round of large job cuts in the U.S. and shifting those positions to operations in India.

Struggling video rental chain Blockbuster Inc (NYSE: BBI) announced on Wednesday that it plans to partner with TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) to deliver digital movie library over the internet directly to the televisions of people with TiVo digital video recorders. Shares of Blockbuster jumped 7 cents or 9.59% to 80 cents.

Newell Rubbermaid (NYSE: NWL) on Tuesday slashed its quarterly dividend by 52% to 5 cents a share in order to protect its investment-grade rating. Shares of the company plunged 38 cents or 5.79% to $6.18.

Shares of Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) soared $1.39 or 36.48% to $5.20. Late on Tuesday, the company announced a wider fiscal second-quarter loss of $42.1 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with a loss of $24 million, or 12 cents a share, in the prior year quarter. On an adjusted basis, the company reported earnings of $27.3 million, or 13 cents a share for the latest quarter. Revenue slipped 5.6% to $2.9 billion from $3.06 billion.

European stocks finished mixed. The U.K. FTSE retreated 11.21 points or 0.86% to 3,900.25. The German DAX and French CAC gained 0.86% and 0.66% respectively.

Asian stocks finished lower. The Nikkei 225 fell 8.31 points or 0.10% to 8,479.99. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong plunged 288.23 points or 2.07% to 13,622.11.

NYMEX crude oil for April delivery declined $1.21 or 2.2% to $52.77 a barrel.  
 
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.