Stocks Close Mixed After Choppy Day

Updated from 4:18 p.m. EDT

Stocks in New York had an erratic session Wednesday and visited both positive and negative territory, but ultimately the major indices closed near their session lows after a late selloff.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 82.99 points, or 1%, to 7886.57, while the S&P 500 fell 6.53 points, or 0.8%, to 843.55. The Nasdaq tacked on 2.27 points, or 0.1%, to 1646.12.

The major indices gave up 3% to 4% on Monday and then reclaimed about half of that this time, before retreating in the afternoon.

During the trading day, technology stocks were the strongest segment ahead of earnings from Apple(AAPL) and eBay(EBAY). Both delivered better-than-expected results, sending their shares higher by 2.5% and 5%, respectively, after the regular session.

Earlier, Sandisk(SNDK) shares rose 13.4% to $15.54 after it topped estimates, and Yahoo! (YHOO) gained 0.7% to $14.48 after announcing its quarterly numbers and a 5% workforce reduction.

Auto stocks rose early owing to a Goldman Sachs upgrade for the U.S. auto sector to neutral. The analysts also raised Ford's(F) rating to buy. Ford's shares were 12.6% higher at $4.28.

General Motors(GM), however, gave up its early gains and ultimately lost 0.6% to $1.69, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the automaker's CFO has indicated it won't be able to make its June 1 debt payment of $1 billion.

Caterpillar(CAT), was the strongest component on the Dow, adding 3.4% to $32.45 a day after its earnings.

General Electric(GE) climbed 0.9% to $11.80 following its annual shareholder meeting. GE CEO Jeff Immelt said the recession was "difficult to predict" and that the downturn is the worst since the Great Depression.