New York, Dec 22 (DPA) Major US stock indices Tuesday closed at their highest levels in more than two years as investors looked to 2011 with increased confidence.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 0.60 percent to 1,254.60, exceeding its close of 1,251.70 Sep 12, 2008 - the last session before Lehman Brothers filed the world's biggest bankruptcy, Bloomberg financial news reported.

"Lehman Brothers was really the starting gun for creating this sense of fear, and we still haven't fully overcome that fear, but we're in a healing process," Jeffrey Coons, president of Manning & Napier Advisors Inc in Fairport, New York, told Bloomberg.

"The aggressive moves of the Fed right after Lehman and ongoing today have been an important driver for the stabilization of stock prices. It's still going to be a difficult growth environment, but the natural improvement in the economy is beginning to take hold."

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 55.03 points, or 0.48 percent, to 11,533.16. The S&P 500 climbed 7.52 points, or 0.60 percent, to 1,254.60. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 18.05 points, or 0.68 percent, to 2,667.61.

The US currency gained against the euro to 76.34 euro cents from 76.2 euro cents Monday. The dollar slipped against the Japanese currency to 83.76 yen from 83.78 yen.