NEW YORK - Stocks turned mixed Wednesday as word of a buyout deal in the homebuilding industry wasn't enough to offset investors' worries about weak first-quarter earnings reports.

Before the market opened, Pulte Homes Inc. said it agreed to buy rival Centex Corp. for $1.3 billion in a stock deal that will create the nation's largest homebuilding company. The deal provided a glimmer of hope that the stricken homebuilding industry may be getting back on its feet.

But investors remain anxious ahead of more earnings reports in the coming days, worried that Alcoa Inc.'s disappointing report signals more dismal results to come.

After the bell Tuesday the aluminum giant said it lost nearly a half billion dollars in the first quarter - which was more than analysts had expected.

Worries about companies' first-quarter earnings reports, and their forecasts for the remainder of the year, have rattled the market this week, giving the major indexes back-to-back losses after four straight weeks of massive gains.

Another positive Wednesday was word that the government may soon extend a lifeline to certain troubled life insurers.

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrials rose 1.43, or 0.02 percent, to 7,790.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.99, or 0.1 percent, to 816.54, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 8.01, or 0.5 percent, to 1,569.62.

Market participants said the recent dip has created an attractive entry point for investors who don't want to miss out on a continued upswing.

"We're still in the midst of that rally," said Dave Rovelli, managing director of trading at brokerage Canaccord Adams. "These guys that run mutual funds, they can't miss the rally. If the S&P starts to go positive and they are behind, they are going to have to start buying just to keep up with the return. That's why this rally might have legs."

Insurers jumped on news that the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program may soon be extended to the life insurance industry, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday. The announcement could come within the next several days, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Such a move would help stabilize the troubled industry, which has been hit hard by big investment losses this past year amid the ongoing turmoil in the market.

MetLife Inc. jumped nearly 7 percent. Prudential Financial Corp. soared 12 percent, while Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. gained more than 27 percent. Both companies became savings and loan holding companies earlier this year in order to become eligible for a piece of the government's $250 billion in aid set aside for banks and other financial companies.