New York, Oct 19 (IANS): US stocks ended sharply higher Tuesday, led by financials, as investors digested a batch of mixed corporate earnings, Xinhua reported.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 180.05 points, or 1.58 percent, to 11,577.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 surged 24.52 points, or 2.04 percent, to 1,225.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 42.51 points or 1.63 percent, to 2,657.43.

Financial shares continued to catch eyes, with big banks among the best performers in the market even though some of them posted lackluster results.

Bank of America surged more than 10 percent after reporting a third-quarter profit of $5.9 billion Tuesday due to accounting gains and assets sales.

Other banks were also higher, with JP Morgan Chase up nearly 6 percent and Citigroup jumping almost 7 percent, pushing the financial sector up about 5 percent.

Goldman Sachs, surprisingly, ended more than 5 percent higher even after the bank reported a loss of $428 million in the third quarter.

IBM was the biggest laggard in the Dow, tumbling over 4 percent after the tech giant's revenue barely met forecasts, underscoring fears over slower IT spending.