U.S. stocks rallied after Microsoft Corp. and Countrywide Financial Corp. reassured investors that profits will extend five years of growth.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index posted its sixth increase in seven weeks after 65 percent of 301 members reported quarterly earnings that topped analysts’ forecasts. Profits may grow 7 percent in 2007 and 12.3 percent in 2008, based on the average analyst estimate from a Bloomberg survey.

Microsoft, the world’s biggest software company, climbed 9.5 percent to a six-year high after quarterly sales beat projections by more than $1 billion. Countrywide, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, had the biggest gain since at least 1982 after saying last quarter was its “earnings trough.”

The S&P 500 climbed 20.88, or 1.4 percent, to 1,535.28, its steepest advance this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 134.78, or 1 percent, to 13,806.7. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 53.33, or 1.9 percent, to 2,804.19. [MORE]