U.S. Stocks End Mixed, Oil Prices Fall Again

U.S. stocks end mixed, oil prices fall again

Claman on Call: FBN’s Liz Claman with an after-hours web exclusive on the markets, oil prices and Volkswagen’s Tiguan GTE Active concept vehicle.

Stocks staged a turnaround late in the session. The "buy on the dip" crowd finally came in after a choppy session where stocks struggled to regain their footing after a brutal start to the year.

The Dow closed up 52 points and the S&P gained one point, but the Nasdaq marked its longest losing streak in eight years, losing five points. The Russell 2000 narrowly escaping bear market territory, fell nearly 3 points to 1,043. The small-cap benchmark index needs to dip to 1,036 to be in a bear market.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) kicked off earnings season with a beat on profit, but revenue fell short of estimates. The metals-and-mining company rose in after-hours trade.

Some of the market's late-stage comeback may be due to comments from Dennis Lockhart. The head of the Atlanta Fed said the Federal Reserve may not have enough strong economic data to warrant a rate hike either this month or in March.

Oil lost grip and touched a new 12-year low, dipping during the session below $31 a barrel for the first time since December 2003. Oil settled lower by 5.3% at $31.41 a barrel.

Tech and social media also got battered -- Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), Fitbit (NYSE:FIT) and GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) touched new all-time lows Monday. The drops have some investors fearing this is the beginning of a tech bubble bursting.

Volkswagen is pulling on America's SUV-loving heart strings, unveiling its new sporty hybrid, the Tiguan GTE Active. The plug-in concept car has two electric motors and a gasoline engine. The rubber hits the road in 2017.

Volkswagen powered higher to end the session up more than 2%.