Wall Street gains on upbeat global earnings

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Wall Street gains on upbeat global earnings

NEW YORK, New York -- Stock markets made a lot of gains Wednesday as companies began the reporting season in style.

It's going to be more important than the typical earnings season, said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments. Earnings haven't mattered a ton, because it's been a macro-based market for a few years now. We are moving away from a macro-based world and we're in a micro-based world because central banks are becoming more hawkish. The Nasdaq Composite led the way, surging 272.02 points or 2.03 percent to 13,643. The Dow Jones industrials advanced by 344.23 points or 2.03 percent to 13,643. The S&P 500 added 49.14 points or 1.12 percent to 4,446. The U.S. dollar was mixed Wednesday. The euro was little changed at 1.0884 around the New York close. The British pound increased to 1.3109. The Swiss franc was a bit more stable at 0.9348.

The Canadian dollar went up to 1.2565. The CAC 40 in Paris, France added just 0.07 percent to the overseas equity markets. In Germany, the Dax fell by 0.34 percent. London's FTSE 100 gained 0.05 percent.

New Zealand's S&P NZX 50 slid 14.17 points or 0.12 percent to 11,875. The largest percentage increase in 20 years was achieved in the year 2000, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand increased the official interest rate benchmark from 1 percent to 1.5 percent.

Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 508.51 points or 1.93 percent to 26,843. The Australian All Ordinaries added 39.70 points or 0.51 percent to 7,775. China's Shanghai Composite closed down 26.51 points or 0.82 percent at 3,186. The Hang Seng finished ahead 55.24 points or 0.26 percent at 21,374 in Hong Kong.