Stocks in the United States closed marginally higher last night as Goodyear provided the first major blemish in an otherwise stellar earnings season and prevented blue-chip stocks from recouping Tuesday's losses.

At the close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 6.65 at 11,002.78, having erased a gain of nearly 60 points. It was the third straight decline for the blue-chip index. The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 2.18 to 1,379.28 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 29.48 to 2,761.60

NYSE volume totalled 782.94 million shares against 647.48 million in the previous session. The NYSE composite index rose 0.21 to 647.48, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 0.91 to 806.81. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.07 to 454.62.