NEW YORK — The stock market closed higher, following the lead of financial stocks as the heads of several big banks testified before Congress about the financial crisis.

Stocks fluctuated early Wednesday but strengthened as the questioning of bank officials proceeded with little in the way of confrontation.

Industries seen as safer in a weak economy, like health care and utilities, posted some of the biggest gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 54 points, while broader indicators also advanced. Treasury prices fell, pushing interest rates higher, after jumping on Tuesday.

Executives including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein, JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO James Dimon, Morgan Stanley Chairman John Mack and Bank of American Corp. CEO Brian Moynihan appeared before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. It is the first meeting of the bipartisan, 10-member panel, which is investigating the near collapse of the financial system in the fall of 2008.

While the executives agreed that banks' actions contributed to the crisis that paralyzed the credit markets and worsened the recession, investors did not hear anything from the hearings that would encourage them to flee financial stocks.

The questions about banks underscored how many concerns investors are juggling. After a strong first week of the year in stocks, a disappointing profit report from Alcoa Inc. late Monday is causing concern that the robust earnings investors had been expecting for the final quarter of 2009 might not materialize.

In much of 2009, companies boosted earnings by laying off workers and slashing expenses. But the benefits of cost-cutting can only go so far, and investors are looking for signs that increases in revenue will lift earnings.

Intel Corp. is expected to post results Thursday, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. reports Friday.

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Far more companies will report earnings next week, which will give investors more signals about the state of the economy's recovery. Later this week, reports on due on retail sales and industrial production that could also direct trading.

Stephen Wood, chief market strategist at Russell Investments, expects improvements in economic and corporate news in 2010 will be incremental and that big gains seen in the market in the past 10 months will taper off.

"This might be like running on the beach with your shoes on. It's going to be a real slog," Wood said.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 53.51, or 0.5 percent, to 10,680.77. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 9.46, or 0.8 percent, to 1,145.68, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 25.59, or 1.1 percent, to 2,307.90.

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