If you liked Tuesday you'll love Wednesday, which was close to a carbon copy of the previous session. U.S. Treasury prices rose and their yields, which move in the opposite direction of prices, fell. The price of oil continued to tick down, and stocks -- with the exception of the NASDAQ composite -- closed in positive territory on light volume. In addition, remarks by Fed chief Alan Greenspan had little effect the financial markets. For the second day in a row he didn't mention inflation -- and that was a relief to bond traders.

Treasuries rebounded on Wednesday from yesterday's modest sell-off. The yield on the 10-year note knocked off three basis points to hit 4.43 percent, but that was it. It bounced off 4.42 percent, which is a key yield support level, and held at 4.43 percent for the rest of the session. The decline in the 10-year yield, which lenders use as a guide to set rates, was good enough to allow lenders to hold rates at this week's slightly lower levels.

Oil Down, Stocks Up
The anxiously awaited report on oil inventories showed crude reserves up for the eighth straight week, while gasoline inventories continued to fall. Strength in crude reserves put pressure on oil prices, which dropped 19 cents to close at $55.85 a barrel. Chairman Greenspan urged Congress today to put the brakes on the growth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government-chartered publicly held corporations that buy mortgages from lenders. The companies, which have been under scrutiny regarding financial dealings, have seen their portfolios grow dramatically during the recent housing boom. They now buy almost 50 percent of all mortgages. In spite of the Greenspan's comments, stocks of Fannie and Freddie climbed 3.9 percent each. In a separate report, the Mortgage Bankers Association noted a decline in mortgage activity for the week ended April 1. Applications to purchase fell 5.3 percent, while refis were down 3.1 percent from the previous week.

The three major indices traded in positive territory all day on light volume, but the NASDAQ composite dipped into negative territory moments before closing. The Dow Jones Industrial index posted its third straight win, with 17 components ending in positive territory. GM led in gains with a 2.8-percent increase, and three other companies -- Caterpillar, Honeywell and Exxon -- added more than 1 percent. Two closed flat and 11 others were down, but Home Depot was the only component to lose more than 1 percent.

Upgrades of a trio of chip makers got the NASDAQ composite off to a good start, but some warnings took their toll. Siebel Systems, a big name in software, said that first-quarter earnings and sales will miss badly, sending shares down almost 10 percent. Research in Motion, creator of the popular Blackberry, warned it would miss on first quarter sales and lost 2 percent. Only two tech bellwethers closed up, and gains were modest. One closed flat and the others posted losses, with Dell down 2.5 percent. Others suffering substantial losses were: Yahoo!, down 1.9 percent; Qualcomm, down 1.5 percent; and JDS Uniphase, with a 1.3 percent loss.

For the day, the Dow 30 Industrial Index rose 27.32 points or 0.26 percent to end at 10,486.02; the NASDAQ Composite index was down 0.18 points or 0.01 percent to close at 1,999.14, and the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 2.67 points or 0.23 percent to 1,184.06.

At 4:00 PM EST:
The 30-year Treasury bond was up 9/32 in price with the yield falling to 4.73 percent.
The 10-year Treasury note was up 9/32 in price with the yield falling to 4.436 percent.
The 5-year Treasury note was up 7/32 in price with the yield falling to 4.08 percent.

Average mortgage rates (zero discount points) based on rates collected nationwide were:
The 30-year Conventional Fixed-Rate Mortgage was at 5.761 percent from 5.75 percent at Tuesday's close.
The 15-year Conventional Fixed-Rate Mortgage was at 5.302 percent from 5.316 percent at Tuesday's close.
Coming Up

Weekly first-time jobless claims for the week ended April 1, Wholesale Inventories and Sales for February and Consumer Credit for February are set for release on Thursday -- the first and only economic reports of the week. Historically, first-time claims is the only one that would move the markets. This generally happens if it is weaker or stronger than expected. Overnight and into tomorrow mortgage lenders are likely to hold rates close to present levels.