U.S. Markets End Volatile Day Mixed

October 23, 2008 5:21 p.m. EST

New York, NY (AHN) - U.S. markets fluctuated from positive to negative as the major indices bounced along yearly lows. The S&P held yesterday's closing low, but the Nasdaq fell, closing at a new 5 year low.

The Dow Jones Industrial average added 172 points or 2 percent. A late session rally took the average positive after trading down as much as 3 percent. Dow advancers outpaced decliners 19 to 11. Chevron and Boeing were the Dow leaders, up 8 percent each.

The S&P 500 rose 11 points or 1.3 percent. The index gave up early gains to test the new lows set yesterday but a late rally helped it close higher.

Tech lagged the market on a whole with Nasdaq Composite falling 12 points or 0.7 percent to 1603. Thursday's close marks a fresh 5 year low for the composite as we are now below the low set on Oct. 10. Semiconductors weighed on tech as the index fell 1.4 percent on the session.

Crude oil rebounded $1.09 a barrel to settle at $67.84. A large production cut is expected to be announced Friday at OPEC's emergency meeting.

In economic news, weekly jobless claims rose 15,000 to 478,000, higher than the 468,000 that economists expected. A handful of job cut announcements did not help the outlook for jobs data going forward.

Goldman Sachs will be cutting 10 percent of its workforce. Xerox will cut 5 percent and General Motors said it will implement layoffs of salaried workers.

Corporate earnings season is still in full swing with tech bellwether Microsoft reporting quarterly earnings after the bell.

Friday's session will see reports from Fortune Brands, Overstock.com and Ingersoll-Rand Co.