The Dow Jones industrial average briefly eclipsed the 10,000 point mark for the first time in more than a year Wednesday, bolstered by surprisingly strong earnings reports from Intel Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Major stock indexes all rose more than 1 percent.

The Dow hovered around 20 points below 10,000 for most of the day before breaching the threshold in the afternoon. The last time it reached an intra-session high of 10,000 was October 7, 2009. The financial crisis would send the index to a 12-month low of 6,547.05 in March.

But the moment was short-lived. After peaking at 10,001.58, the index dipped slightly. In afternoon trading, the Dow was up 122.58, or 1.24 percent, to 9,993.64.

The S&P 500 index climbed 15.10 points, or 1.41 percent, to 1,088.29. The Nasdaq composite rose 26.35, or 1.23 percent, to 2,166.24.

JPMorgan Chase, the first major bank to report third-quarter earnings, stoked the market's optimism as it handily beat Wall Street's expectations, reporting a profit of $3.59 billion for the July-September period. The bank also achieved record year-to-date revenue.

Investors didn't seem fazed that JPMorgan, considered one of the strongest financial institutions throughout the financial crisis, doubled the amount of money it set aside during the quarter to cover failed home and credit card loans. Instead, they seemed to be encouraged by the fact that divisions like retail and investment banking helped the bank earn a hefty

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profit.

"Better than expected is a win," said Peter Schwartz, principal at Gregory J. Schwartz & Co. "People's expectations have been calibrated to buffer some of the bad news."

Intel also beat analysts' estimates, reporting a smaller-than-expected decline in profit and sales after the market closed Tuesday. The leading chip maker said it expects sales in the final period of the year to top analyst projections, raising hopes that the computer market was improving.

Together, the reports quieted some of investors' fears that companies won't be able to boost profits the old-fashioned way: Through sales growth and not just cost-cutting.

A smaller-than-expected decline in retail sales for September underpinned the market's early gains.

Soaring commodities prices also helped drive the market higher. Gold hit another record high of $1,072 an ounce, while oil prices rose above $75 a barrel for the first time in a year as the dollar slumped to a fresh 14-month low against other major currencies. Treasury prices fell as investors abandoned safe-haven assets for stocks and commodities.

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