NEW YORK - Blue-chip stocks pushed higher today after a seesaw session that saw the Dow Jones industrial average bounce back from an early 137-point slide triggered by another rocky day overseas. Dow jumps 66.76 despite Asia selloff
The Dow changed course three times during the session, finally rising 66.76 points to close at 7,647.18 despite falling to its lowest level in two months during the opening slide.
Decliners led advancers by a 9-to-7 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,338 up, 1,716 down and 441 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 692.90 million shares, down slightly from Friday's 746.42 million, the fourth biggest tally in NYSE history.
The broad markets were mixed, with several indexes posting modest gains. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 11.52 to 939.21 after wiping out an early 15-point deficit, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 4.37 to 1,507.59 after recovering from an early 36-point slide. The NYSE composite rose 4.14 to 491.61, but the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 2.06 to 410.89 and the small-company dominated American Stock Exchange composite fell 3.83 to 646.41.
Treasury bond prices were higher. The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was up 3/16 point, or $1.87 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield fell to 5.71 percent from 5.73 percent late Friday.
Stocks slid at the open, extending Friday's 222-point slide by the Dow, after investors woke up to a sharp selloff in Southeast Asia for the fourth straight session.
Bellwether technology shares, which are considered especially vulnerable to the economic trouble in Asia, led today's turnaround.
Intel Corp., which is due to report on its latest results after tomorrow's close, rose sharply to lead the rebound on the technology-heavy Nasdaq market, which briefly fell to its lowest level since the October selloff.
Hong Kong's main stock index sank 8.7 percent today amid news that a major investment bank there had failed. Share prices also fell in Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and Australia, but rose in two of the region's most troubled nations: Indonesia and South Korea.
European markets were pulled lower by the turmoil in Asia, but some recovered partially after Wall Street's turnaround. Frankfurt's DAX index fell 3.5 percent, the Paris CAC-40 fell 2.0 percent, and London's FT-SE 100 fell 1.4 percent. In Moscow, Russian stocks fell 11 percent.