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Dow Ends Lower But Erases Most Losses

Published: Tuesday, 25 May 2010 | 4:03 PM ET

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By: Jeff Cox, JeeYeon Park

Stocks erased most of their earlier losses in the final half-hour of trading Tuesday as materials and consumer discretionary stocks advanced.

The move came despite fears that Europe's banking problems and North Korea's threats of military action against South Korea could derail the economic recovery.

Major U.S. Indexes

.DJIA

.NCOMP

.SPX

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 20 points, clawing back throughout the day after shedding nearly 300 points at the open.

The S&P 500 turned positive and the Nasdaq also recovered most of its losses after falling more than 2 percent. The CBOE Volatility Index [VIX Loading... () ] fell near 35 after lingering near 40 for most of the trading day.

The biggest losers on the blue-chip average were Kraft [KFT Loading... () ], and Coca-Cola [KO Loading... () ].

But Home Depot [HD Loading... () ], Intel [INTC Loading... () ] and JPMorgan [JPM Loading... () ] turned positive in late trading.

The Dow fell as much as 292 points within the first 15 minutes of trading, but losses steadied after coinciding with an NBC report that North Korean troops were not on military alert despite tensions with the South.

ADVICE FOR INVESTORS

The SPDR Financial [XLF Loading... () ] exchange-traded fund was off 3 percent earlier, but halved its losses as markets calmed through the day. Goldman Sachs shares [GS Loading... () ] rose as investors grew more comfortable with the Wall Street giant's fate amid congressional financial reform. Morgan Stanley [MS Loading... () ] also gained.

The dollar neared a 4-year high against the eur and oil prices [US@CL.1 Loading... () ] shed more than $1 a barrel to settle below $69.

Meanwhile, gold notched modest gains, settling near $1,200 an ounce. The SPDR Gold Trust [GLD Loading... () ] ETF, which closely tracks the metal's movements, moved higher, as did other gold-related stocks including Anglogold Ashanti [AU Loading... () ] and Barrick Gold [ABX Loading... () ]. Gold mining and precious metals were the among the only positives of the Dow Jones sectors.

Treasurys rose after a weak auction of two-year notes. The $42 billion sale fetched a high yield of 0.769 percent and the bid-to-cover ratio was 2.93.

Auctions of 5-year and 7-year notes are expected in the next two days, respectively.

In today's economic news: A report showing that housing prices fell in March despite hopes that the government tax credit would help lift the market didn't help the market's mood.

On a positive note, U.S. consumer confidence rose for the third straight month in May to the highest in more than two years as concerns about the labor market continued to ease.

And on the tech front, Microsoft shares [MSFT Loading... () ] fell amid the tech giant's plans to overhaul management of its division focused on mobile phones, videogames and other consumer devices, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Yahoo [YHOO Loading... () ] and Nokia [NOK Loading... () ] are planning to team up to boost their mobile Internet offerings, in an attempt to compete against rivals such as Apple [AAPL Loading... () ] and Google [GOOG Loading... () ]. Starting in the second half of this year, Yahoo will host Nokia's email on phones exclusively and Nokia in turn will provide maps and navigation for Yahoo.

AutoZone [AZO Loading... () ] was one of the S&P 500 leaders after company reported earnings before the bell that were better than estimates.

Meanwhile, Walmart [WMT Loading... () ] announced it is cutting the price of the Apple's iPhone 3GS to $97 with a two-year contract from $197, another possible sign that Apple is getting ready to unveil a new model.