Stocks gained on Tuesday as corporate earnings and a solid jump in manufacturing data fueled investors' optimism on their return from a 3-day holiday.

Financial stocks got an early boost from Britain's Barclays Plc which said it had started the year well after beating forecasts with 2009 profit of $18.2 billion. U.S. traded shares of the bank gained 10.3 percent to $18.31.

Bank of America rose 1.7 percent to $14.70, becoming the biggest gainer on the Dow.

The financial sector of the S&P 500 <.GSPF> rose 0.9 percent, while the KBW Bank Index <.BKX> gained 1.1 percent.

A gauge of manufacturing in New York state rose in February as inventories jumped, the New York Federal Reserve said in a report, easily beating forecast.

The data we saw this morning is printing a pretty good picture for the first quarter, said John Canally, investment strategist at LPL Financial in Boston.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 60.99 points, or 0.60 percent, at 10,160.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 7.48 points, or 0.70 percent, at 1,082.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 8.24 points, or 0.38 percent, at 2,191.77.

But the global fears about risk in continues to linger in the market, particularly due to Greece, said Craig Peckham, equity trading strategist at Jefferies & Co in New York.

Earlier, Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said Greece must step up efforts to cut its budget deficit and understand that other euro zone citizens are not prepared to pay for its government's mistakes.

Merck & Co rose 2.5 percent to $37.84 after the drugmaker posted quarterly profit in line with analysts' estimates and stuck by its goals for massive savings from its recently completed merger with rival drugmaker Schering-Plough Corp.

Kraft Foods Inc posted a higher quarterly profit and said its recent acquisition of British chocolatier Cadbury Plc would help accelerate long-term growth. But the stock dropped 1.5 percent at $28.65.

U.S. crude oil futures were up $2.34, or 3.1 percent, at $76.46 a barrel, spurred by gains in the euro against the dollar.

(Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)

United kingdom Merck & Co. Manufacturing