U.S. stocks continued to close higher Wednesday on a batch of upbeat earnings and a passed bill by the U.S. House to extend the debt ceiling, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining in nine of ten days.

The Dow rallied 66.96 points, or 0.49 percent, to 13,779.17 in a five-year high. The broader S&P 500 Index inched up 2.22 points, or 0.15 percent, to 1,494.78, also marking a five-year high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index moved up 10.49 points, or 0.33 percent, to 3,153.67.

The main stock indices kept climbing in the afternoon session after the House voted to approve legislation suspending the debt ceiling until May 19, a move that will allow the Federal government to keep paying its bills.

In the earlier session, Wall Street was spurred by better-than- expected earnings from Google and IBM released after the closing bell on Tuesday.

Google shares jumped 5.52 percent to 741.68 dollars, one day after the tech giant reported that its revenue in its core Internet business surged 22 percent to 12.91 billion U.S. dollars in the fourth quarter.

Shares of IBM were 4.41 percent higher, reaching 204.73 dollars following quarterly earnings that beat bottom line. In addition, the computer-service provider guided full-year 2013 earnings ahead of analyst expectations.

Before the opening bell, McDonald's Corp. reported fourth- quarter revenue above expectations as a result of strong December sales. However, the fast-food company sees January same-restaurant sales declining. The Dow component managed to trade into negative territory after the mixed results.

Another Dow component, United Technologies Corp. shares, added 0.66 percent to 88.05 dollars after the leading provider of high- technology products reported fourth quarter earnings in 2012 of 1. 04 dollars per share compared with 1.42 dollars in the quarter a year ago, beating analysts' estimates.

Advanced Micro Devices jumped 11.84 percent to 2.74 dollars, leading the S&P 500 gainers after the chipmaker reported a narrower-than-expected loss and revenue that topped estimations.

Meanwhile, shares of Coach plunged 16.25 percent to 50.82 dollars after the apparel retailer reported disappointing earnings results.

On the economic front, U.S. house prices rose 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from October to November, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's monthly House Price Index released on Wednesday, pointing to a sustained home price appreciation.

Global economic growth will strengthen gradually in 2013, with 3.5 percent up from 3.2 percent in 2012, as the constraints on economic activity start to ease this year, said the International Monetary Fund in an update to its World Economic Outlook. Meanwhile, the recovery is slow, and the report noted that policies must address downside risks to bolster growth.

Apple will announce its fourth quarter results after the closing bell.

U.S. stocks rebounded to close higher in the previous session, as the White House welcome a temporary extension to the debt ceiling.