Wall Street rose on Thursday, led by financial shares, as insurer Travelers' quarterly profit more than quadrupled.

Dow components 3M Co , AT&T Inc and McDonald's Corp all rose on profit beats.

Regional bank PNC Financial Services Group Inc

spiked 14.3 percent to $51.40 after reporting far better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The S&P financial index <.GSPF> added 2.1 percent and helped buoy the broader S&P 500.

For any part of the market to make headway, it requires companies to beat estimates. We need pleasant surprises, and today we're getting plenty of them, said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer at Johnson Illington Advisors in Albany, New York.

Even with nearly 80 percent of S&P 500 companies exceeding expectations so far this earnings season, according to Thomson Reuters data, investors are still concerned the market has overvalued corporate prospects in a weak economic environment.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 112.38 points, or 1.13 percent, to 10,061.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 7.77 points, or 0.72 percent, to 1,089.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 8.03 points, or 0.37 percent, to 2,158.76.

3M and Travelers Cos Inc both gained after raising their full-year outlooks, sending 3M up 3.4 percent to $78.90, and Travelers up 5.9 percent to $50.83.

But fellow Dow component Merck & Co Inc was little changed after it reported better-than-expected earnings, but said first-quarter profit would be hurt by the seasonality of drug sales.

United Parcel Service Inc slipped 1.2 percent to $56.44 after the shipping behemoth, an economic bellwether, reported sharply lower earnings and said its outlook for the holiday season remained unclear.

Union Pacific Corp fell 3.5 percent to $60.71 after the No. 1 U.S. railroad offered a more conservative pricing outlook for the full year.

Union Pacific led declines in the Dow Jones Transport Average Index <.DJT>, which was off 0.4 percent.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

New York Chip