As the Dow Jones Industrial Average marked its first triple-digit gain of the month, consumer-oriented components General Motors, McDonald’s, and Coca-Cola helped carve the way.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 180.54, or 1.4%, to 13,308.39, as 29 of 30 members rose. (Walt Disney dropped 7 cents to 33.49.)

The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 38.36, or 1.5%, to 2,597.47. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 19.79, or 1.4%, to 1,471.49.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both marked their first gain in three sessions.

The New York Stock Exchange Composite Index advanced 139.97, or 1.5%, to 9,597.61.

“For the first time in some time, there was a lack of negative news,” the chief market strategist at Spencer Clarke LLC, Michael Sheldon, said. “Instead, we had positives from a range of industries. And the speech by Ben Bernanke turned out to be a nonevent, another relief for investors.”

General Motors rose 1.33, or 4.6%, to 30.54, the industrial average’s best percentage gainer. The company’s vice chairman, Bob Lutz, said the auto maker is spending less on incentives for its newly released crossover vehicles than it planned when it launched the vehicles, meaning fewer costly concessions.(Crossovers are designed to look like a truck-based sport utility vehicle but are built off traditional passenger car platforms.) McDonald’s gained 1.61, or 3.2%, to 51.76, its biggest percentage advance in more than a year. The fast-food giant surpassed investor expectations with a strong worldwide performance in August that benefited from promotional successes abroad and new products and weaker competition at home. The showing impressed Wall Street firms, including Citigroup, Bear Stearns, and UBS, which all raised their earnings estimates.

Coca-Cola advanced 1.09, or 2%, to 55.66, and PepsiCo rose 1.41, or 2.1%, to 69.87. Goldman Sachs raised its view of the American beverage sector to attractive from neutral, saying after a soft 2007, next year’s domestic profit performance could be much stronger, with a more benign commodity cost outlook and several recent product additions.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was 1.31 billion shares. Up volume exceeded down by 1.1 billion to 197 million, and stocks that rose in value exceeded those that fell by 2,414 to 880.

ImClone Systems (Nasdaq) rose 6.97, or 18%, to 44.90. A key clinical trial for the drug developer’s oncology treatment Erbitux showed the drug helped patients with lung cancer live longer.

King Pharmaceuticals lost 1.06, or 7.4%, to 13.20, the S&P 500’s largest percentage decliner. A federal appeals court ruled against the drug company in the defense of its patent for its Altace blood-pressure medication, opening the door for generic versions by year-end, analysts said. Representatives of King did not return calls to confirm the reports.

Western Digital rose 99 cents, or 4.4%, to 23.40. The computer hard-disk drive maker said it expects to report better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results due to improved demand. The move followed similar action by Western Digital’s main American rival, Seagate Technology, last month. Seagate yesterday advanced 56 cents, or 2.3%, to 25.41. EBay (Nasdaq) rose 1.32, 3.8%, to 36.31. JPMorgan Securities said its tracking indicates the Internet auction site has seen its listing trends improve considerably after the anniversary of pricing changes made in August 2006..