New York  - Major US stock indices closed higher for the third straight trading day Tuesday as better-than-expected company earnings and hopes for an economic stimulus eclipsed a record decline in consumer confidence and more job cuts.

American Express Co shares rose nearly 10 per cent on a positive fourth-quarter earnings report. Computer chipmaker Texas Instruments Inc's shares jumped 3.7 per cent as its fourth-quarter profit beat analyst forecasts and the company announced it was shedding 12 per cent of its workforce to counteract slowing demand.

US companies have announced more than 50,000 job cuts in the past two days and consumer confidence fell to another record low in the first month of 2009 as the world's largest economy struggles through a serious recession.

The private New York-based Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 37.7 in January, the lowest since records began in 1967, down from an upward revised 38.6 in December.

President Barack Obama's signature solution for the world's largest economy, an 825-billion-dollar stimulus package, could be approved by the US House of Representatives on Wednesday. Obama met Republicans in Congress Tuesday to convince them of its "urgent" necessity.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 58.70 points, or 0.72 per cent, to 8,174.73. The broader Standard and Poor's 500 Index climbed 9.14 points, or 1.09 per cent, to 845.71. The technology- heavy Nasdaq Composite Index added 15.44 points, or 1.04 per cent, to 1,504.90.

The US currency rose against the euro to 75.94 euro cents from 75.60 euro cents on Monday. But the dollar dropped against the Japanese currency to 88.94 yen from 89.01 yen on Monday. dpa