The biggest boost to the main indexes were the FAANG group of stocks - Alphabet Inc, Facebook Inc, Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Netflix Inc - after bullish brokerage comments
The rally was also helped by easing demand for safe-haven government bonds, with investors looking for bargains in beaten-down stocks after three weeks of declines
Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher,biggest boost came from a 2.2 per cent gain in the IT sector
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise US rates for the first time this year after a two-day policy meeting
S&P 500 and the Dow are still on course for their first monthly fall since last March
Amazon rose 1.9 per cent, while tech heavyweights such as Facebook, Apple and Alphabet gained between 1 per cent and 2.6 per cent
US crude futures rose to $63.82 a barrel, its highest since December 2014
A 1.7 per cent rise in Johnson & Johnson and a 5 per cent jump in Boston Scientific helped the S&P health sector gain 0.7 per cent
Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% in December after gaining 0.1% in the prior month
A final bill could be formally unveiled on Friday, with decisive votes expected next week in both chambers