Stocks Stop the Bleeding

Updated from 4:08 p.m. EST

Stocks in New York endured a back-and-forth morning Wednesday before enough bargain hunters emerged to push the market into positive territory following the prior session's mammoth selloff.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 52.39 points, or 0.43%, to 12,268.63, but finished below its highest level of the day.

At its worst, the Dow was lower by 28 points and, at its best, the blue-chip index was better by more than 130 points. Out of 30 components, 17 finished higher. Procter & Gamble (PG Quote) was the best performer, up 3.7%.

The S&P 500 added 7.78 points, or 0.56%, to 1406.82, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 8.27 points, or 0.34%, to 2416.13.

On Tuesday, a global selloff sent the major U.S. averages to some of the worst single-day point losses they've ever seen. The Dow plunged 416.02 points, or 3.29%, to 12,216.24, its biggest one-session decline since the market reopened six days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Briefly, the Dow was down as much as 546 points.

The Nasdaq sank 96.65 points, or 3.86%, to 2407.87, and the S&P 500 tumbled 50.33 points, or 3.47%, to 1399.04. Sellers unloaded shares with conviction, and the New York Stock Exchange traded record volume.

"Overall, our gains today weren't too bad and the market acted well," said Jay Suskind, head of institutional equity trading with Ryan Beck & Co. "There was a lot of emotion yesterday but it looks as though the sky isn't falling now. The debate now resumes over the strength of the economy and its effect on corporate profits."