Stocks erased significant losses late in Thursday's session, with the Nasdaq managing gains, following reports that the Obama administration is working on a plan to subsidize mortgages for troubled homeowners. Questions about the financial rescue plan and economic stimulus legislation lowered stocks for most of the session. Stock declines accelerated early Thursday after the release of a pessimistic report on U.S. home prices. In economic news, the National Association of Realtors said that existing-home prices fell 12.4 percent in the fourth quarter of last year from a year earlier. The decline left prices at the lowest level since 2003. The government reported that U.S. jobless claims fell slightly last week but remained near a 26-year high. A separate government report showed that January retail sales rose unexpectedly after declining for six consecutive months. Light sweet crude oil for March delivery fell $1.96 to $33.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. dollar gained against the euro and the yen. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 6.77, or 0.1 percent, to 7,932.76. Bank shares declined, including Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, American Express, and Bank of America. Shares of Coca-Cola gained after the soft-drink giant reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, due to strong global sales. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.45, or 0.2 percent, to 835.19. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 11.21, or 0.7 percent, to 1,541.71. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 3.77 to 5,256.45. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 2.50 to 1,405.69. And the Russell 2000 index rose 2.47 to 450.42.
