Late Buyers Save the Day

Updated from 4:18 p.m. EDT

Stocks slumped Monday after the government reported weaker-than-expected data from the housing sector, but buyers emerged late to help the major indices finish narrowly mixed.

After falling more than 100 points earlier in the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 11.94 points, or 0.1%, to 12,469.07. The S&P 500 rose 1.39 points, or 0.1%, to 1437.50, and the Nasdaq Composite ended up 6.70 points, or 0.27%, to 2455.63.

"The comeback came thanks to bargain-hunters," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment officer with Oaktree Asset Management. "There wasn't any news to drive the market higher, but there was a pretty broad-based recovery." ...