Dow Flirts With History

The Nasdaq's advance was restrained by a loss of 5.2% in Autodesk (ADSK - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).

Meanwhile, the Dow benefited from gains of 2.4% or more in General Motors(GM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Caterpillar(CAT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Disney(DIS - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Intel(INTC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr)

About 2.23 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange. Advancers beat decliners by a 2-to-1 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq was 2.06 billion shares, with winners outpacing losers 8 to 7.

The major indices jumped after the Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to a reading of 104.5 in September from a revised 100.2 the previous month. Economists anticipated the confidence index would reach 103.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist with High Frequency Economics, said he expects that "both expectations and current conditions will likely rise again in October as gas prices are still falling. But this is a temporary boost, not a trend reversal."

Following the data, bond prices were reversing the prior session's rise. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note was down 10/32 in price, yielding 4.58%. The dollar strengthened against the euro and the Japanese yen.

Crude prices eased by 44 cents to $61.01 a barrel. Precious metals were higher, with gold up $1.20 to close at $597.10 an ounce and silver stronger by 17 cents at $11.50 an ounce.

Back on the corporate side, traders were taking in stride a series of lowered estimates as the quarter draws to an end.

To view Gregg Greenberg's video take on today's market, click here.