3 more years and buoyed by strong earnings from Caterpillar Inc and 3M Corp and reports of progress in talks to restructure Greece's debt.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 47.49 points or 0.37% to 12,804. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 3.58 points or 0.27% to 1,329. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 7.99 points or 0.28% to 2,826.

European markets were broadly higher, with the Europe Stoxx 600 up 0.8%, as Greek press reported that private sector creditors are willing to accept a coupon of below 4% on the new Greek bonds involved in the debt swap.

In the macroeconomic domain, US jobless claims rose by 21,000 to 377,000 in the latest week partially offsetting stronger-than-expected durable goods orders. Orders for durable goods rose by 3.0% in December.

New home sales unexpectedly dropped by 2.2% to 307,000 in the same month. Separately, the US leading indicators index rose 0.4%.