Rally Fizzles to Mild Losses

Tech leads declines, Dow falls from triple-digit gain

(NEWSER) - Stocks swung back to losses as optimism from last week’s rally faded today, the Wall Street Journal reports. Investors treated last week’s announcements that many troubled financial institutions ran operating profits in the first two months of 2009—ignoring “toxic securities” on their balance sheets—with skepticism. The Dow closed down 7.01 at 7,216.97. The Nasdaq fell 27.48 to 1,404.02, and the S&P 500 lost 2.66, closing at 753.89. More»

Bailout plan reassures investors

(NEWSER) - Stocks continued to rally today, gaining enough on news of the government’s plan to form a debt relief agency for financial firms that the week's last two sessions saw the markets almost overcome the week’s earlier losses, MarketWatch reports. The Dow gained 368.75 to close at 11,388.44, the Nasdaq rose 74.80 to 2,273.90, and the S&P 500 climbed 48.57 to 1,255.08. More»

(NEWSER) - Stocks limped higher at the open today, after a punishing Monday session that left the Dow below 7,000, its worst levels since April 1997. Today the Dow was up 80 points in early trading, the Wall Street Journal reports, while the S&P and Nasdaq added 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively. Financial stocks were modestly higher, with Citigroup up 11% and Bank of America up 4.7% More»

Obama inauguration can't break Street's gloom

(NEWSER) - A spirit of optimism swept through America today as Barack Obama was sworn in—except on Wall Street, where financial trouble at home and in the UK sent the Dow below 8,000 for the first time since November, the Journal reports. The Dow fell 332.13 to close at 7,949.09. The Nasdaq shed 88.47, settling at 1,440.86, and the S&P 500 closed down 44.90 at 805.22. More»

Good news from RIM, Oracle help lift tech sector

(NEWSER) - Stocks ended mixed today as a rally on the news of a White House bailout for the auto industry fizzled over concerns for the larger economy, MarketWatch reports. General Motors led advancing stocks with a 22.7% gain, and the Dow closed up 25.88 at 8,579.11. The Nasdaq gained 11.95, closing at 1,564.32, while the S&P 500 rose 2.60, to settle at 887.88. More»