New York ? Investors rewarded Wall Street for an upbeat earnings season again Monday, pushing stocks sharply higher and extending two weeks of stunning gains. The market overcame an earlier round of profit taking and saw the Dow Jones industrials shoot up more than 200 points.

Analysts attributed Monday’s advance to the market’s own upward momentum and to budding optimism by investors who have seen big companies such as General Motors, Citigroup and IBM beat earnings expectations. However, Monday’s batch of earnings reports was rather lackluster.

“There is a euphoria” in the market, said Brian Bruce, director of global investments, PanAgora Asset Management Inc. in Boston. “People have been waiting for something to be enthusiastic about. Today is an example of people wanting to see the glass half full.”

After falling 91 points early in the session, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 215.84, or 2.6 percent, at 8,538.24.