Stocks rebound with tech in the lead

Wall Street regained its footing one-day after it took the worst beating in four months.

The Dow gained 139 points. The S&P 500 rose 39 points. The Nasdaq rallied 180 points.

Better-than-expected economic data offset worries over the resurgent health crisis.

The U.S. economy staged a record rebound in economic activity during the third quarter after a record nosedive the quarter before. Consumer spending - largely boosted by now expired economic stimulus out of Washington - helped drive the rebound. The economy, however, is still weaker than it was at the end of last year and with no new stimulus in sight - there are concerns about what's next for the economic outlook.

To that point, jobless claims remain historically high. 751,000 Americans lined up for the first-time for unemployment benefits last week. Nearly 23 million Americans received government jobless assistance as of early October.

Hugh Johnson of Hugh Johnson Advisors says the market wants another stimulus package.

"And believe me, it's very hard for investors because one day we hear and it looks as though we won't get enough stimulus, the next day: we will get enough stimulus. We're looking at a very volatile market. And until we get into the post-election and we start to zero in on the level of stimulus that we're going to get, we won't be able to answer that question. Is this level of stimulus enough to avert the so-called double dip, second leg down in the economy?"

After the close it was an earnings tech-a-palozza. Amazon, Facebook, Google parent Alphabet blew past earnings estimates as these marquee tech companies continue to benefit from work and school from home, a boost in online ad spending, and the increase in online shopping.

While Apple exceeded profit estimates as well ... iPhone sales were even weaker than the lackluster numbers expected by analysts.

But the big miss of the tech group - Twitter. Subscriber numbers came in below forecasts. The stock slumped in after-hours trading.