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Wall Street's November rally paused on Tuesday as a stabilizing U.S. dollar narrowly ended the S&P 500's six-day run but the Dow managed to extend Monday's 200-point surge to close at fresh 2009 highs. 

Today’s Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20.03 points, or 0.20%, to 10246.97, the S&P 500 dropped 0.07 points, or 0.01%, to 1093.01 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.98 points, or 0.14%, to 2151.08. The consumer-friendly FOX 50 added 1.69 points, or 0.21%, to 802.38.

The markets alternated between positive and negative territory throughout the day, mirroring the action in the currency markets, where the U.S. dollar's slide stopped amid disappointing economic news out of Europe. The back-and-forth action underscores the key role the greenback has played in recent weeks as a weaker dollar has driven stocks higher by lifting gold to all-time highs and making multinationals more competitive.

While stocks largely sputtered on Tuesday, the Dow was still able to add onto a 204-point surge from a day ago with little resistance. 

“The fact we didn’t give up any of the gains is very impressive,” said Ryan Detrick, equities analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment Research. “We think this V-shaped recovery is going to continue. As much as we dropped off the map last year, it really seems like we’re going to bounce back just as fast.”

Just over half of the Dow's 30 components closed in the green, led by American Express (AXP), Bank of America (BAC) and Kraft (KFT). The index's biggest decliners included Boeing (BA) and Cisco (CSCO). Prior to Tuesday, the Dow had soared 455 points in four days -- its best such stretch since late July. 

The dollar closed off its best levels of the day, allowing gold to settle at yet another record high and basic materials stocks to close in the green. Earlier in the day, the greenback rallied against the euro, putting pressure on stocks, as Fitch Ratings said the U.K. is most at risk among big economies to lose its perfect AAA credit rating due to its heavy debt load. At the same time, the Euro-zone currency was hurt by a weaker-than-expected German investor confidence reading. 

Advancing for the seventh day in a row, gold gained $1.10 an ounce, or 0.1%, to settle at $1101.90. After jumping $2 a day ago, crude fell 38 cents a barrel, or 0.48%, to $79.05.

Corporate Movers

American International Group (AIG) has made real progress in its overhaul and the bailed-out insurer is likely to be able to repay the government’s loan, Moody’s said. AIG is 80% owned by the U.S., which has provided more than $80 billion in loans to prevent the insurer from collapsing.

Priceline.com (PCLN) surged 17% to 52-week highs after the online travel agency said its third-quarter profits quadrupled amid a 32.8% jump in gross bookings. Late Monday Priceline.com said it earned $3.45 a share on a non-GAAP basis, easily topping the Street’s view of $2.92 a share. The company’s revenue jumped 30% to $730.7 million, also exceeding estimates.

Electronic Arts (ERTS) sank nearly 7% a day after the video game publisher missed estimates with an adjusted-profit of 6 cents a share. The publisher of “Madden” said it plans to slash 1,500 jobs, or 17% of its workforce, and narrow its product portfolio.  

MBIA (MBI) lost more than one-quarter of its market cap after the bond insurer disclosed a third-quarter loss of $727.8 million, or $3.50 a share, late Monday It marked the fifth quarterly loss in the past eight quarters for MBIA, which has been slammed by the housing downturn.

Beazer Homes (BZH) swung to an 84-cent profit last quarter, crushing the $1.24-a-share loss that analysts had forecasted. The latest results included one-time gains from the company's early repayment of debt.

Lloyds Banking Group (LYG) said it plans to slash about 5,000 jobs from its mortgage and insurance divisions over the next few months. The cuts come as the British bank continues to absorb mortgage lender HBOS, which it acquired earlier this year.

JA Solar (JASO) beat the Street with EPS of 36 cents amid a 130% jump in third-quarter shipments to a record high. The Chinese solar company said its revenue fell 38% to $193.3 million, topping estimates.

Tyco International’s (TYC) net income slid 53% last quarter but the industrial conglomerate’s non-GAAP EPS of 61 cents exceeded consensus projections. Tyco’s revenue fell by a better-than-expected 16% to $4.4 billion.

Global Markets

European markets closed mixed after Monday's big gains. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 0.09% to 5230.55 and Germany's DAX slid 0.12% to 5613.20 but France's CAC 40 gained 0.003% to 3785.59.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.64% to 9870.73 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.27% to 22268.16.