Stocks Fight Back; Dow Up 553

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»

Investors nervous ahead of Friday's December employment report

(NEWSER) - Stocks piled on after this morning’s losses, with investors shaken by a grim jobs report and news of layoffs and slashed forecasts at Alcoa and Intel. Crude plunged $5.95, to $43.01 a barrel, after inventories rose more than forecast, MarketWatch reports. The Dow fell 245.40 to close at 8,769.70. The Nasdaq dropped 53.32 to 1,599.06, and the S&P 500 closed down 28.05 at 906.65. More»

Jobless claims reach 7-year high

(NEWSER) - Jobless claims rose to a 7-year high last week, but that didn’t appear to move the needle for stocks, which barely budged at today's open. The Dow crept up 66 points, while the S&P and Nasdaq rose 0.9% and 0.4% respectively. A staggering 32,000 filed new jobless claims last week, to a seasonally adjusted 516,000, a much bleaker number than analysts anticipated. More»

Traders worry non-financial stocks may still feel recession's bite

(NEWSER) - Stocks closed lower today after an earlier rally died down as worries about consumer-discretionary and tech stocks overcame investors’ faith in global actions to quell the credit crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow, up nearly 400 early, ended off 76.62, to 9,310.99. The Nasdaq, especially hard hit, lost 65.24 to close at 1,779.01. The S&P 500 dropped 5.35 to 998.00. More»

Mining giants Bucyrus, Terex to merge

(NEWSER) - Stocks saw broad gains today as analysts upgraded blue chips Alcoa and Intel and big mergers were announced in the mining and health-care sectors, the Wall Street Journal reports.

• The Dow rose 85.25 points to close at 10,414.14.
• The Nasdaq added 25.97, ending the session at 2,237.66.
• The S&P 500 gained 11.58 to settle at 1,114.05.