The Dow and S&P 500 rose on Tuesday amid optimism that the $US800 billion latest rescue package by Federal Reserve could revive the sagging housing market and consumer lending.
However, the Nasdaq ended lower after Cisco Systems said that it will close most of its operations in the United States and Canada for five days in an effort to cut costs.
Cisco's shares tumbled 6% to $US15.42. Microsoft's stock slid 3.4% to $US19.99 and shares of Apple declined 2.3US to $US90.80.
Shares of Hewlett-Packard fell almost 6% to $US33.60 on the New York Stock Exchange despite posting a solid quarterly profit report and giving an upbeat outlook late on Monday.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 36.08 points, or 0.43%, to 8,479.47.
Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 5.58 points, or 0.66%, to 857.39. But the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 7.29 points, or 0.5%, to 1,464.73.
Trading was active on the NYSE, where about 1.88 billion shares changed hands. About 2.50 billion shares were traded on the Nasdaq, above last year's daily average of 2.17 billion.
Earlier, the Commerce Department reported the US economy shrank by 0.5% pace in the third quarter, in a revised estimate for gross domestic product.
Separately, the Conference Board reported US consumer confidence bounced back in November from an all-time low a month earlier, but still reflects weak economic conditions.
