U.S. Stocks Gains Marred by Volatility

Updated from 9:45 a.m. EDT

Stocks in New York quickly retreated from early gains won Tuesday on new the Federal Reserve will buy short-term debt from U.S. companies to provide relief from the credit crisis.

The Fed announced creation of a new lending facility to buy short-term commercial paper from businesses. The central bank also said it expects the new lending program to remove the stoppage in the credit markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 43 points to 9,912, while the S&P 500 was essentially flat at 1056. The Nasdaq was losing 14.7 points to 1848.

On Monday, the major indices sold off frantically only to recover from much of their losses as the credit crisis manifested itself outside the U.S. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, down as much as 800 points during the session, ended with a loss of 369 points, or 3.6%. Nasdaq and the S&P 500 finished down 3.9% and 4.3%, respectively.

After Monday's close, Bank of America (BAC) announced it would cut its dividend and raise $10 billion in fresh capital as it reported quarterly earnings ahead of schedule.

Meanwhile, Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC) agreed to take a two-day breather from their legal fight over who would get to acquire Wachovia (WB).

In the technology sector, chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) announced a plan to spin off its manufacturing operations.

Automaker Adam Opel, a segment of General Motors (GM), said it would cease production at its Eisenach, Germany plant, according to the AP.

As for economic data, traders will get a look at minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's Sept. 16 meeting, when it elected to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 2%. Later in the afternoon, the Fed's look at U.S. consumer credit is due for release.