Stocks Close Mixed

(Updated with recent market average and stock quotes.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks in the U.S. stayed within a tight range and closed mixed Tuesday afternoon on a fairly uneventful day for the markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 20 points, or 0.2%, to 10,247. The S&P 500 held flat at 1093, while the Nasdaq slipped 3 points, or 0.1%, to 2151.

On Monday, each of the major indices added at least 2%, as the Dow gained over 200 points. One analyst, who expressed surprise that a larger selloff didn't materialize Tuesday, noted that the lack of any earth-shattering news or data kept the markets from making any big moves.

"Stocks are just vacillating today," says Kenneth Roberts, principal at Harbor Lights Financial. "In the last week or so, we've come quite a long way. Perhaps the market is just taking a breather today in anticipation of further news to be released later in the week."

Still, the day did offer a few items for investors to interpret. The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales grew 11.4% in the third quarter, though the median price of a single-family home dropped 11.2% to $177,900.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D., Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, released a lengthy bank regulatory-reform bill. The draft calls for the creation of an agency charged with monitoring systemic risk, while bringing bank supervision under the purview of one regulator.

A record $25 billion in 10-year Treasury notes were sold at auction Tuesday with a high yield at 3.470%. The auction had a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.81, better than the recent average of 2.61, and indirect bidders totaled 47.3%, also ahead of the recent average of 36.1%, according to Briefing.com.