11th HOUR RALLY ON WALL STREET

Major Gauges Break Into The Black Minutes Before The Closing Bell After A Tumultuous Session.

Stocks rallied late in the session Wednesday as investors weighed credit concerns and oil prices in addition to some better-than-expected economic news and corporate earnings reports. The Dow Jones industrial average rose over 150 points, or 1.2% after struggling for most of the session.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index added 0.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 0.3%.

All three major gauges got off to a rocky start on the heels of a stock selloff in the previous session.

But stocks bounced into the black briefly after the Institute for Supply Management reported that nationwide manufacturing activity fell more than expected and the National Association of Realtors' pending home sales index jumped more than expected in June.

Oil prices weighed in following the government's weekly report on crude inventories, which showed a huge drawdown last week. U.S. light crude for September delivery sank $1.26 to $76.95 a barrel after reaching a peak of $78.77, according to Reuters.

In addition, credit concerns, a slumping real estate market and corporate earnings compounded investors nervousness throughout the session, according to Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co. "We don't know the magnitude of all of those issues," Hogan said, and "that is giving markets the jitters."

Market breadth was negative and volume was heavy. Losers beat winners on the New York Stock Exchange by nine to seven on volume of 2.4 billion shares. Decliners topped advancers by three to two on volume of 3 billion shares on the Nasdaq.

Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.78 percent from 4.74 percent late Tuesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The dollar gained against the euro and was little changed versus the yen.

COMEX gold for December fell $3.40 to $675.90 an ounce.