Stocks Log a Volatile Win

The most highly anticipated data of the week, the government's unemployment report, will come out Friday.

In other news, Ford -- up more than 8.3% early -- easily topped estimates, reporting a surprise fourth-quarter profit of 29 cents a share, on better than expected revenue of $30.9 billion.

Last week, the major averages lost more than 2.5% each -- the biggest one-day drop since July -- on Friday as a stronger dollar, soft consumer spending report and fears about the rally's sustainability took hold.

On the other hand, CIT Group(CIT) filed for bankruptcy protection over the weekend, after a proposed debt exchange to bondholders failed. Shares gave up 65.3% to 25 cents.

Meanwhile, Denbury Resources(DNR) will buy Encore Acquisition(EAC) for $3.2 billion in cash and stock. Those stocks were down 10.3% and up 20.5%, respectively.

Stocks overseas were mixed, with the FTSE in London up 1.2% and the Dax in Frankfurt up 0.3%. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were down 2.3% and 0.6%, respectively.

-- Written by Elizabeth Trotta in New York.

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