The Dow rose modestly but moved as high as 12,805.05, signaling the market's recovery from its sharp fall in February, when a global pullback shaved more than 3 percent from the major U.S. indexes.

Bond prices also rose Wednesday, extending their advance as investors grew optimistic that the Federal Reserve won't raise interest rates.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted the Dow after the bank reported a 55 percent jump in profits that far surpassed Wall Street's expectations. The 30 companies that make up the index — nearly half of which report earnings this week — have been mostly beating the Street's predictions.

But investors pulled back from tech stocks after Yahoo posted a surprising 11 percent drop in its first-quarter profit. Disappointing results from International Business Machines Corp. and Motorola Inc. added to the selling.

Mike Malone, a trading analyst at Cowen & Co., said results from Yahoo stunted some appetite for technology issues. However, he dismissed the idea of the company's earnings being the start of any trend for first-quarter reports.

"There has been some company specific issues out there, but they really aren't indicative of the underlying earnings environment," he said.

Wall Street was uneasy about a sharp drop in the dollar, which is now at 26-year lows against the British pound. The U.S. currency has weakened because interest rates have remained steady since the summer, and amid signs of a slowing U.S. economy.

In midafternoon trading, the Dow rose 30.55, or 0.24 percent, to 12,803.59. The Dow topped a previous trading high of 12,795.93 set Feb. 20.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.52, or 0.10 percent, to 1,473.00, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 5.34, or 0.21 percent, to 2,511.61.

Oil prices fell 32 cents to $62.78 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange although a government report showed a bigger-than-expected decline in gasoline inventories. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said stockpiles dropped 2.7 million barrels to 197 million barrels.

With no major economic data on tap, investors have focused on this week's earnings reports to pick a direction. The S&P has predicted earnings for companies in its flagship index grew less than 4 percent in the first quarter, much less than in previous quarters.

Yahoo plunged $3.72, or 11.6 percent, to $28.37 after the Internet portal reported disappointing results late Tuesday. The results left Wall Street wondering how much longer it will take the company to regain its financial footing after it stumbled through most of 2006.

Pressure was felt elsewhere in the tech sector. IBM posted disappointing results late Tuesday, and its shares dropped $2.38, or 2.5 percent, to $94.74. Hard driver maker Seagate Technology LLC fell $1.30, or 5.9 percent, to $20.85 after it reported profit fell 22 percent in the first quarter, and lowered its forecast.

Motorola reported a first-quarter loss due to sluggish sales, and charges to cover a legal settlement and restructuring efforts. However, sales surpassed expectations and the stock rose 37 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $18.32.

Medical device maker Abbott Laboratories Inc. fell $1.17 to $57.83, after it said Wednesday its first-quarter profit fell 19 percent. The results excluding certain items, however, beat analyst estimates.

JPMorgan Chase rose $1.97, or 3.9 percent, to $52.15 after the nation's third-largest bank reported a 55 percent increase in profit. The New York-based bank said first-quarter results were boosted by strength across its primary business lines, though it did increase reserves to offset subprime mortgage losses.

Declining issues led advancers by a 3 to 2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.03 billion shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.10, or 0.37 percent, to 825.88.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 0.80 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 closed down 0.74 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.90 percent, and France's CAC-40 dropped 0.38 percent.

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