Market Recap: We Stand Corrected, Markets Rally Despite Bernanke Disappointment

Markets closed up today:

▲ Dow: +0.62 percent

▲ Nasdaq: +0.45 percent

▲ S&P: +0.74 percent

Precious metals:

▼ Gold: up -0.48 percent to $1,583.15 an ounce

▼ Silver: up -0.08 percent to settle at $27.29

Commodities:

▲ Oil: +0.79 percent

Markets were up because:

After Ben Bernanke failed to hint at any further fed action on Tuesday, we predicted markets would close down for the day. We were wrong and, as the headline says, we stand corrected.

Stronger earnings from Mattel, Coca-Cola and other big companies lifted the Standard & Poor's 500 index on Tuesday for only the fourth day this month.

The S&P rose 10.03 points to 1,363.67. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 78.33 points to 12,805.54, only its third increase of the month. Concern about corporate earnings and slower economic growth have weighed on the market.

The stock market wavered between gains and losses in morning trading as investors kept an eye on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's first of two days of testimony before Congress.

Bernanke said weaker economic growth probably means unemployment will remain stubbornly high. But he offered no signs that the Fed was ready to take action to bolster growth soon.

As the earnings season got under way last week, analysts had expected quarterly profits for companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index to fall 1 percent compared with the year before, according to S&P Capital IQ, the research arm of S&P. That would break a streak of higher earnings that started in the last quarter of 2009.

Goldman Sachs also reported earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street's forecasts. The bank said it bundled more mortgages into bonds, leading to a 37 percent increase in sales from mortgage and commodity trading. Its stock gained 30 cents to $97.98.

The gains were broad. All 10 industries in the S&P 500 rose, led by health care companies. The Nasdaq composite index gained 13.10 points to 2,910.04.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.