NEW YORK - Wall Street brushed off more bad economic news Tuesday to finish with a moderate advance that left broad stock indexes at their highest levels in two months.

Stocks gained after stumbling in the early going because of mixed data on the service sector, factory orders and pending home sales. While investors expected the readings would show further deterioration, they were hoping the pace of the declines would slow. The market is eager for signs that the U.S. recession will end this year.

Stocks recovered in midafternoon trading after the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its December meeting, providing insight into the central bank's historic decision to ratchet down its key interest rate to near zero to revive the economy.

Investors hopeful for an economic recovery moved out of sectors like consumer staples and health care that are seen as safe havens during recessions and put money into consumer discretionary names and beaten down financial stocks. Technology shares advanced in part after a Barclays Capital analyst upgraded shares of telecommunications network equipment maker Ciena Corp. Proposals by President-elect Barack Obama to help stimulate economic growth by spending on infrastructure and pushing for tax breaks helped some sectors expected to benefit from a stronger consumer.

"I think people are cautiously optimistic," said Ben Halliburton, chief investment officer at Tradition Capital Management. "They are hopeful that the Obama administration is going to get the economy back on track. But I think the speed at which they get things back on track might be slower than the current consensus believes."

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 62.21, or 0.69 percent, to 9,015.10.

Broader stock indicators showed steeper advances to end at their highest levels since Nov. 5. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.25, or 0.78 percent, to 934.70. The Nasdaq composite index advanced 24.35, or 1.50 percent, to 1,652.38, helped by an 18.6 percent jump in Ciena shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 9.68, or 1.92 percent, to 514.71.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.34 billion shares.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 2.45 percent from 2.48 percent late Monday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.14 percent from 0.09 percent.

On Monday, the Dow fell 81 points, giving back some of its gains from last week's rally in which all the major indexes rose more than six percent.