US stocks ended higher following better than expected earnings from a host of companies, including Apple, American express, AT&T and UPS.

The tech sector powered the advance after Apple's fourth-quarter earnings rose 67%. News that Alcatel-Lucent and Research In Motion will work together to distribute the latter's popular Smartphones in China also boosted sentiment. But comments from DuPont Chief Executive Charles O. Holliday Jr. that the company does not expect a recovery in the housing market next year kept investors reminded of the still uneasy forecasts for the economy.

Some traders attributed the market pullback to a reversal in crude oil prices. Oil dipped below $ 86 on concerns about the health of the US economy and further indications that OPEC has already substantially raised output. A barrel of light, sweet crude fell 75 cents to $ 85.27 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Dow rose 109.26, or 0.81%, to 13,676.23. Broader stock indicators also had solid gains. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 13.26, or 0.88%, to 1,519.59; the Nasdaq composite index rose 45.33, or 1.65%, to 2,799.26.


Indian ADRs power ahead; Satyam flares 12%; HDFC Bank, VSNL, Sterlite up more than 7%

The Indian ADRs had a good day as the positive sentiments in the Indian markets boosted stocks. All of the ADRs managed to end in the green, led by Satyam, which was up more than 12% on a day when it announced a good set of numbers and also gave encouraging guidance.

In the technology pack, Infosys Technologies was up 1.69% at $ 50.49, Patni Computers was up 0.31% at $ 22.78, Satyam Computers was up 12.05% at $ 30.23, while Wipro ended the day 3.74% higher at $ 15.80.

In the non-technology pack, HDFC Bank was up 7.73% at $ 117.08, VSNL was up 7.23% at $ 27.13, ICICI Bank was up 6.72% at $ 59.88, MTNL was up 4.52% at $ 9.25, Tata Motors was up 4.13% at $ 20.17, Dr Reddy's Lab was up 3.86% at $ 16.43 and Sterlite was up 7.3% at $ 22.05.