By Chuck Mikolajczak

The market shrugged off a brief sell-off after Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner faced tough questioning at his confirmation hearing before a Senate committee.

The day after earnings results from State Street alarmed investors about losses in one of the safest parts of banking, earnings from rival Northern Trust Corp on Wednesday soothed investor concerns after its net income more than doubled. The financial services company's shares were up 22 percent.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc also projected lower loan losses from its purchase of National City Corp, sending its shares soaring 27 percent.

"People are excited because financials are valued so low at this point. It's the mentality that they can't get any lower, but they've proven time and time again that they can," said Jocelynn Drake, market analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 227.56 points, or 2.86 percent, to 8,176.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 26.77 points, or 3.32 percent, to 831.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 49.02 points, or 3.40 percent, to 1,489.88.

International Business Machines Corp was the biggest lift to the Dow, jumping nearly 10 percent to $90.15 after the world's top technology services company posted a quarterly profit and a 2009 profit outlook that surpassed Wall Street's expectations. That burst of strength from IBM led investors to believe the Dow component can weather the global economic downturn.

Hearings on Geithner's appointment attracted the market's attention for much of the day as he is seen as Obama's point man in battling the economic crisis. As the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since 2003, Geithner is expected to hit the ground running if confirmed as Treasury secretary.

A day after his historic inauguration, President Barack Obama was scheduled to meet this afternoon with his economic advisers, who are working with the Democratic-led Congress on an $825 billion fiscal stimulus package.

The financial sector drove gains in the S&P 500 following Tuesday's sharp sell-off, which was ignited by deepening fears of insolvency among banks.

The broad KBW index of bank stocks <.BKX> gained 5.5 percent, while the S&P financials index <.GSPF> advanced 6.1 percent.

JPMorgan Chase ranked as the Dow's second-biggest advancer, rising 11.2 percent to $20.12.

On the downside, Wal-Mart Stores Inc was the largest weight on the Dow after being downgraded to a "neutral" rating at Credit Suisse. Shares of Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer and leading discount chain, slid 3.6 percent to $48.74.

Apple led the Nasdaq higher ahead of its quarterly earnings after the closing bell, despite a report that U.S. regulators were examining the company's disclosures about Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs' health problems to ensure investors were not misled.

(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)