Stocks Up a Few Measly Points

In the second economic release of the day, the Department of Commerce reported that wholesale inventories fell by about 0.8% in May vs. expectations for a 1% decline and after a 1.3% reduction in April.

The major U.S. indices closed in mixed territory Wednesday ahead of Alcoa's results, the first quarterly report of the stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The aluminum maker reported its third straight quarterly loss but beat expectations on the top and bottom lines, sending shares higher in after-market trading.

"Now Alcoa has the staying power and reduced cost base to withstand the most serious downturn in the history of the aluminum industry," CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said in a statement. "Our operational and financial initiatives also provide Alcoa with the focus and flexibility to compete and grow in the most profitable segments of the industry as the economy recovers."

Earnings will get into full swing next week with reports from the likes of JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote), Intel(INTC Quote), Bank of America (BAC Quote) and Citigroup (C Quote).

The last few weeks have been light on earnings preannouncements, which usually sets the stage for weakness in stocks during earnings as such announcements temper expectations and create the opportunity for positive surprises, says Duessell.

On the other hand, expectations aren't high. "The expectations are down 34%, which should mean that enough bad news is priced into the market that if they show us negative things, it shouldn't' hurt so much," she says.

Outside of earnings, a slew of retailers released their June sales. Department store J.C. Penney(JCP Quote) reported a not-as-bad as expected 8.2% decline in sales, while Macy's(M Quote) said its sales fell 8.9%, roughly in line with expectations. Costco (COST Quote) said its same-store sales fell 6% in June, also in line with expectations.