Worries Keep Stocks Mixed

Markets were mixed today, with financials and tech stock prices falling while blue chips enjoyed a bounce after Friday’s precipitous drop, MarketWatch reports. The Dow gained 70.51, closing at 12,280.32. The Nasdaq fell 15.10 to close at 2,459.46, while the S&P 500 gained 1.08, settling at 1,361.76.

Investors were encouraged by a bounce in home sales, and by a $4 fall in oil prices. The tech sector's downturn caught some analysts off-guard. "The techs' weakness is a little surprising because tech is the one sector that's held up pretty well lately," one trader said. "It looks like people are getting out of whatever profitable positions they have to raise cash." (More Dow Jones stories.)