US stocks Wednesday posted solid gains following a big jump in US existing-home sales and a mixed bag of earnings reports from Boeing, McDonald's and others.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 18,037.40, up 87.81 points (0.49 percent).

The broad-based S&P rose 10.63 (0.51 percent) to 2,107.92, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 21.07 (0.42 percent) at 5,035.17.

Total sales of used homes jumped 6.1 percent to an annual rate of 5.19 million units in March, the fastest pace in 18 months, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

Dow member Boeing fell 1.4 percent as analysts focused on rising costs for production of its 787 jets rather than a 38.9 percent jump in net income to $1.34 billion.

McDonald's tacked on 3.1 percent as it vowed to unveil a turnaround plan in two weeks following another round of dismal results. Net income in the first quarter plunged 32.6 percent to $812 million.