Early rally fizzles, leaving US indexes lower

NEW YORK (AP) - Sudden twists in the price of oil and currency trading turned the stock market into a roller-coaster ride on Tuesday.

Major indexes opened lower as falling oil prices and a plunge in the Russian ruble weighed on markets.

Less than an hour later, crude oil recovered and oil and gas producers surged, driving the Dow Jones industrial average up as much as 246 points in the morning.

By the end of the day, however, all of the gains were wiped out.

"Today was definitely an interesting day," said Jonathan Lewis, Chief Investment Officer of Samson Capital Advisors.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index ended with a loss of 16.89 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,972.74.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 111.97 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,068.87, while the Nasdaq composite dropped 57.32 points, or 1.2 percent, to 4,547.83.

The turbulence drove traders into the safety of U.S. government bonds, driving prices up and yields down. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note sank to 2.06 percent from 2.12 percent late Monday, a big move in the normally placid market.