Stocks Snap Five-Day Losing Streak

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - U.S. stocks snapped a five-day losing streak on Wednesday with buyers out in force as anxiety over the eurozone eased and Alcoa's(AA) profit surprise lifted hopes for a better than expected first-quarter reporting season.

Spanish bond yields stabilized Wednesday after a European Central Bank official hinted at intervention if the situation in the country deteriorated. The markets were on high alert Tuesday, as yields spiked after Spain warned its banks may need more capital if the economy there weakens further.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 89 points, or 0.7%, to close at 12,805. The index's session high was 12,844. Alcoa, Bank of America(BAC) , JPMorgan Chase(JPM) , Cisco(CSCO) and Verizon(VZ) were the biggest percentage gainers among the blue chips.

The S&P 500 advanced 10 points, or 0.7%, to finish at 1369. The Nasdaq jumped 25 points, or 0.8%, to settle at 3016.

Breadth within the Dow was positive with 24 of the 30 components on the rise. Kraft(KFT) , Microsoft(MSFT) , and Chevron(CVX) were among the few laggards.

Advancers also far outnumbered decliners on both major U.S. exchanges, 2428 to 645 on the New York Stock Exchange, and 1964 to 549 on the Nasdaq.

Stocks sustained deep losses Tuesday with eurozone worries flaring up amid growing trepidation over Spain's economic stability.

"The market was ripe for a pullback and we got it," says Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital, earlier in the morning. "A close above some of the key technical levels, with the S&P at 1373-1374, would probably mean that the market will begin to focus more on earnings and that the pullback will be short-lived."

While the S&P 500 failed to break past those levels, the Nasdaq did manage to close above the psychological mark of 3,000.