Rising home prices also sent stocks soaring
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.69%, the S&P 500 index ended up 0.63%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.86%.
The Conference Board said its index of U.S. consumer confidence rose to 76.2 in May, a five-year high, from 69.0 in April, surging past expectations for a reading of 71.0.
"Consumers’ assessment of current business and labor-market conditions was more positive and they were considerably more upbeat about future economic and job prospects," Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, said in a statement.
Fiscal uncertainties in the U.S. may have already taken their toll on the consumer attitudes and sentiment may be on the mend, Franco added.
Elsewhere, the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. home price index rose 10.9% in March from a year earlier, above expectations for 10.2% and the biggest increase since April 2006, which further bolstered stock prices.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Microsoft, up 2.25%, UnitedHealth Group, up 2.11%, and Walt Disney, up 1.86%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included AT&T, down 1.52%, Procter & Gamble, down 1.21%, and Verizon Communications, down 1.09%.
European indices, meanwhile, finished higher.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 1.46%, France's CAC 40 rose 1.39%, while Germany's DAX 30 finished up 1.16%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished up 1.62%.
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