US stocks end marginally higher

US stocks ended marginally higher following an explosive rally a day earlier on expectations that the battered financial sector was beginning to show some signs of recovery. The major market indices bounced between positive and negative territory in chopping trading yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain of 3.91 points (0.04 per cent) to end at 6,929.36 after profit-taking trimmed earlier gains that saw the index break through the 7,000-point psychological level. The tech-dominated Nasdaq climbed 13.36 points (0.98 per cent) to 1,371.64 while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index added 1.76 point (0.24 per cent) to 721.36. Financials stocks had led an early rally for the second straight session yesterday after Citigroup said a day earlier that it was seeing a return to profitability in early 2009 following punishing losses last year. The troubled banking giant's upbeat profit outlook had pushed the Dow index 379.44 points or 5.80 per cent higher on Tuesday but investors took a more cautious stance yesterday. Investors took profits largely due to ongoing uncertainty in the financial system and broader economy, analysts at Briefing.com said.
Source: ET