NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks clung to gains in late afternoon on Wednesday as optimism from Wall Street analysts about blue-chip companies Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - News) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT - News) and solid economic data lightened the mood on Wall Street.

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A slightly stronger-than-expected 0.4 percent gain in factory orders for May helped soothed investor concerns that the market has run too far, too fast from the 2003 lows hit in March to match pace with sluggish U.S. growth.

Investors were also taking courage in the market's strong rally on Tuesday, analysts said.

"People have got a ton of money to put to work," said Jon Brorson, managing director of growth equities at Neuberger Berman. "A lot of people were looking for a correction, and maybe it's not going to come."

Technology stocks were taking the lead, and brokerage stocks also got a bit of a boost following the dismissal of lawsuits against big Wall Street firms.