On Wednesday, US stocks ended higher with a volatile low-volume session, as rising crude oil prices lifting the energy sector and positive earning results from Hewlett-Packard helping offset worries about the ailing financials.

Though stocks had a brief rebound, most financial stocks ended lower, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers.

Financials stocks, already down sharply during the credit crunch, have been under fire this week. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were traded sharply lower as markets are anxious over whether government-backed mortgage giants will require a bailout.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 68 points, or 0.6%, to close at 11,417, with 17 of its 30 components ending higher. The S&P 500 index gained 7.85 points to 1,274, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 4.7 points to 2,389.

The financial sector was recently badly hit with more downgrades and dreadful predictions, dragging most bank stocks lower in the already battered sector after Goldman Sachs slashed its earnings outlooks for five major banks, saying that they expect more writedowns and asset sales to come.

More analysts are saying that the financial crisis is far from over and the worst is yet to come. Some investors think that the financials are cheap, when compared to yesterday’s prices. But the question is no one knows for sure that the financials are at the bottom, many still think that it will go down further.

“The only value of stock forecasters is to make fortune-tellers look good” - Warren Buffett

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