Stocks Reverse Late and Book Small Gains

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The major stock market averages shook off their European debt blues, staging a late-day reversal to finish slightly higher Monday.

Stocks were trading morosely for much of Monday's session after the euro fell to a four-year low on continued concerns about the Continent's debt crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which plunged as much as 184 points during the day, finished 6 points higher, or 0.1%, to 10,626. The S&P 500 added 1 point, or 0.1%, to close at 1137, and the Nasdaq improved 7 points, or 0.3%, to 2354.

"Confidence in the market is very fragile right now. This is the first modern sovereign debt crisis in the developed world," said Perry Piazza, co-chief investment strategist at Contango Capital Advisors, earlier in the session when stocks were near their lows. "The market is dealing with a combination of a market correction and concerns about the eurozone's ability to get its act together.

"The stock market is a forward-looking mechanism, and if the sovereign debt crisis blows up in a meaningful way, then there could be a big haircut on global growth," he said. "After all, a significant portion of U.S. growth has come from exports, so I think there is worry about future growth in the markets. I wouldn't call it fear so much as a repricing of where equities should be valued in terms of global growth prospects. I do think we'll see more support for U.S. equities because there is some safe-haven interest from foreign buyers, and fixed-income assets aren't looking all that attractive right now."

But stocks came off their lows late in the session alongside the euro. Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at Channel Capital Research, said he expects volatility over the next couple of weeks and possibly through the summer, though he expects the ebbs and flows to occur within a range. Roberts said he is eyeing the 1140 area as a key technical mark on the S&P, later expressing awe at the intraday movement saying, "the ranges are amazing."

Overseas, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.1% and Japan's Nikkei lost 2.2%. The FTSE in London fell 0.01%, and the DAX in Frankfurt rose 0.2%.

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