Dow Rises on Late Move

Updated with Treasuries, stock and commodity prices.

Late-day buying in pharmaceuticals and consumer goods helped lift two the of three major indices into positive territory late Wednesday ahead of Alcoa's(AA Quote) earnings report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 14.8 points, or 0.2%, to 8178.41, while the S&P 500 was lower by 1.47 points, or 0.2%, at 879.56. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1 point, or 0.06%, to 1747.17.

Johnson & Johnson(JNJ Quote), Procter & Gamble(PG Quote), Merck(MRK Quote), Wal-Mart(WMT Quote) and Home Depot(HD Quote) rose more than 1% each on the Dow.

Stocks spent most of the day in negative territory but pared some losses early in the afternoon after the U.S. Treasury sold $19 billion worth of 10-year debt in an auction that attracted unusually strong interest. However, it wasn't until some late-day buying that the major indices found positive territory minutes before the close.

"I think everyone is sitting tight and waiting for earnings; it's the next tangible evidence to see the direction of things," says Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Bank. "Once we start to see earnings reports come out in earnest, the market will pick a direction," says Ablin. "While it's certainly a downward trend [now], it's on very light volume."

Midweek brought some of the first earnings: Ruby Tuesday(RT Quote) easily beat Wall Street expectations despite a 7% decline in total revenue. But shares fell 5.1% to $7.02.

Family Dollar(FDO Quote) also topped expectations, and raised its outlook for the year. Its shares rose 12.4% to $31.18.

Alcoa was set to kick off earnings season for Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks with its report after the market close on Wednesday.