NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks rose Wednesday, pushing the Nasdaq to a four-year high and sending it into positive territory for the first time in 2005, as oil prices fell and concerns over lackluster earnings from Intel and Yahoo faded.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 51.82 to 10,637.33, Charts) closed up 0.4 percent, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (down 5.01 to 1,230.19, Charts) gained 0.5 percent and the tech heavy Nasdaq composite (down 4.65 to 2,183.92, Charts) climbed 0.7 percent. All three had been down more than 0.5 percent at the start of the session.

"It looks like the drop in oil prices did it," said David Briggs, head of equity trading at Federated Investors.

U.S. light crude oil for August delivery fell 74 cents to close at $56.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after a government report showed that U.S. crude supplies fell by less than expected last week, while distillate and gasoline inventories posted larger-than-expected gains.

Traders also focused on the economic growth component of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's congressional testimony. Greenspan told members of congress that solid economic growth, as well as interest rate hikes, should continue.

"Mr. Greenspan's comments support equity gains," said Peter Cardillo, chief market analyst at S.W. Bach and Co. "And investors may have turned around their view of Intel."

Intel (Research) reported earnings after the closing bell Tuesday that were a penny a share higher than expected, but shares slipped as investors looked for higher profit margins and perhaps a stronger beat.

After a mixed earnings reports late Tuesday and early Wednesday, the picture is again improving for corporate profits.

eBay (Research) reported second-quarter earnings and revenue after the bell Wednesday that topped Wall Street forecasts, sending its shares up over 12 percent after the bell.

Allstate (Research) said profits rose, Washington Mutual (Research) reported earnings that doubled, and AT&T (Research) said that profits nearly tripled. All the companies either met or beat Wall Street Estimates and gained in after-hours trading.

Investors will watch reports from Dow components Caterpillar (Research), Coca-Cola (Research) and SBC (Research), as well as heavyweights UPS (Research) and Nokia (Research), set for release before the bell Thursday.

Also Thursday morning comes reports on initial jobless claims and leading economic indicators.

Several companies reported earnings after the bell Tuesday or early Wednesday, including General Motors (Research), which reported a loss of $318 million, or 56 cents a share, in the second quarter, excluding special items, compared with earnings of $1.4 billion, or $2.42 a share, a year earlier.

Yahoo (down $0.28 to $33.12, Research) reported revenue significantly higher over last year after the close on Tuesday, but its shares tumbled as the number fell short of analysts' estimates.

Eastman Kodak (down $0.38 to $27.72, Research) posted a second-quarter loss from a year earlier and expects to cut up to 25,000 jobs worldwide. Fifteen thousand positions were originally slated for elimination.

J.P. Morgan (Research) reported second-quarter net income of 28 cents a share, compared with a loss of 27 cents a share a year earlier, but CEO William B. Harrison Jr. said trading performance for the second quarter was "very weak."

Pfizer (down $0.20 to $26.86, Research) said second-quarter net income rose 21 percent and beat analysts' estimates. It also affirmed its full-year forecast and predicted double-digit percentage growth in 2006.

And United Technologies Corp. (Research) said quarterly earnings rose almost 19 percent, helped by strong growth at its Otis elevator business and demand for parts and services at its Pratt & Whitney jet engine division.

News also came on the deal front, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that French food company Groupe Danone (Research) has held talks with unnamed "white knight" suitors.

And Chevron raised its bid for Unocal to $63.01 a share in cash and stock in an effort to secure a deal in light of an offer from China's CNOOC, which stands at $67 cash a share.

Market breadth was positive. Winners beat losers by a margin of over two to one on the New York Stock Exchange, where 1.57 billion shares traded. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners two to one on volume of nearly 2 billion shares.

Treasury prices, which had apparently priced in Greenspan's rate hikes and showed relief that no new language on inflation surfaced, rose, with the yield on the 10-year note falling to 4.16 percent from 4.18 percent late Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar fell against the euro and was little changed on the yen.

COMEX gold rose $1.90 to $422.10 an ounce.

In global trade, Asian-Pacific stocks ended higher after China's GDP came in higher than expected. European finished mixed.