US stocks halt five-day losing streak US equities pared their losses after a five-day negative streak that knocked off a third of the S&P 500"s gains for the year as Alcoa made a positive start to the earnings season by beating market expectations. Shares in the world's second-largest aluminium producer by market capitalisation rose 7.7 per cent in the morning session to $10.04 after Alcoa reported better than expected first-quarter results after the market close on Tuesday, posting post-tax profits of $94m. Although diluted earnings per share declined 66 per cent compared with the same quarter last year, the company posted earnings of 9 cents a share, beating consensus forecasts of a 4 cents loss. However, analysts were wary about the consequences of lower aluminium prices on the company, whose results are often viewed as a key indicator of global economic health due to the importance of aluminium's use in a range of products. "With aluminium prices back down to $0.92 per pound and China demand-side risks growing, we are hard pressed to make the bull case for Alcoa's upstream segments at this point," said Curt Woodworth, a Nomura analyst, who maintained his "neutral" rating of the company and a price target of $12 for its shares. Overall, the S&P 500 rose 0.9 per cent to 1,370.55, ending its downward slide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7 per cent to 12,808.04 while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.8 per cent to 3,016.09. First Solar , the struggling solar-panel maker, was the biggest riser on the S&P 500 with its shares gaining more than 10 per cent to $23.55, which some sector analysts attributed to the release of funding by the Department of Energy to producers. Shares in the company have fallen 83 per cent in the past year, from a peak of $147.20. Best Buy , the big box retailer, recovered a small portion of its recent losses, adding 1.5 per cent to $21.64, pulling back from a three and a half year low hit on Tuesday. Travelzoo , the internet media company, gained more than 5 per cent to reach $26.64 as a Reuters report said the company with a market capitalisation of $420m was planning to sell itself.