Stocks Surrender Gains Late, Close Modestly Higher

Stocks faced an onslaught of late selling Tuesday, giving up some gains to close modestly higher.

The Nasdaq closed atop the heap with a 0.4% gain after being up as much as 0.9% earlier. The S&P 500 and the Dow gained 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. The NYSE composite kept a toehold in positive territory.

Volume rose across the board. But much of the trading took place as the market slid, a negative sign for the market.

Normally, higher volume on a day when the market climbs is encouraging. But the swelling volume as indexes retreated cast doubts.

In fact, the indexes' lackluster gains in higher volume resembled stalling action.

Results among leading stocks were mixed.

So what fueled Monday's action?

Transportation issues were one of the day's big beneficiaries. The Dow transports jumped 1.3%.

05:15 PM ET

Stocks closed up on this anniversary of the March 2009 market bottom. But a round of late selling erased the bulk of the day's gains.