US STOCKS-Wall St climbs on earnings, confidence data

* Amgen (Xetra: 867900 - news) gains, Twitter (Xetra: A1W6XZ - news) falls following results

* Oct consumer confidence reading highest since 2007

* Indexes up: Dow 0.4 pct, S&P 0.6 pct, Nasdaq 1.1 pct (Updates to early afternoon trading, changes byline)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed in afternoon trading on Tuesday, following stronger-than-expected earnings and an upbeat consumer confidence reading.

Amgen's stock was up 5 percent, among the top boosts for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, following its results and guidance, while energy shares reboundedbounced back sharply from big declines Monday. The S&P 500 energy index was up 1.2 percent, leading S&P sector gains.

Helping the day's upbeat tone, U.S. consumer confidence rose in October to its highest since October 2007. The data overshadowed a separate report showing new orders for capital goods by U.S. businesses fell the most in eight months in September.

The majority of U.S. companies reporting third-quarter results have beaten analysts' expectations so far, easing some worries about the impact of weak global demand on corporate profits.

"Corporate earnings continue to surprise and that has been the wind in the sails of this rebound," said King Lip, chief investment officer at Baker Avenue Asset Management in San Francisco.

Investors were awaiting clues on the outlook for the U.S. economy from the U.S. Federal Reserve as the central bank commenced a two-day policy meeting. It is expected to reinforce expectations it will wait a long while before rising interest rates, though the Fed is all but certain to announce the end of its massive bond-buying stimulus.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index outperformed large-cap indexes, climbing 1.7 percent. The index is up more than 8 percent in the past 11 sessions.

Among the day's most actively traded stocks, Twitter shares fell 9.2 percent after it posted a slide in a closely watched measure of engagement, even as its user base grew in the third quarter.

At 1:05 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average rose 73.4 points, or 0.44 percent, to 16,891.34, the S&P 500 gained 10.97 points, or 0.56 percent, to 1,972.6 and the Nasdaq Composite added 47.36 points, or 1.06 percent, to 4,533.29.

The largest percentage gainer on the S&P 500 was Whirlpool , which rose 7.1 percent following results, while the largest decliner was Kohl's, which fell 7.4 percent following its guidance.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,316 to 661, for a 3.50-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 2,003 issues rose and 625 fell for a 3.20-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The benchmark S&P 500 index was posting 49 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 97 new highs and 24 new lows (Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Bernadette Baum)