Stocks Lurch to Small Gains; Blue Chips Seesawed as Investors Digested a Mix of Economic and Earnings News
NEW YORK--Stocks ended the day higher after seesawing between gains and losses, as investors tried to decipher middling readings on companies and the U.S. economy.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 26 points, or 0.2%, to 13104. Disappointing earnings reports had contributed to selloffs of more than 200 points in the average in two of the previous four sessions.</br></br>The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained four points, or 0.3%, to 1413 and the Nasdaq Composite rose four points, or 0.1%, to 2986.</br></br>Earnings and economic reports were mixed, lending little guidance to investors. At the morning's highs, the Dow industrials had advanced nearly 85 points. Major indexes turned down midday--the blue chips were down as many as 40 points on the day before rebounding.</br></br>"The inconsistency in the market reflects the inconsistency of the data flow," said Stephen Wood, chief market strategist with Russell Investments, which oversees more than $150 billion in assets. "You're really getting a mixed data environment that's not clearly negative or positive."