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11:00 am : Stocks climb to their best levels of the session in a broad-based move. All ten sectors are in positive territory.

Financials (+1.6%) is leading the rebound with all 19 of its industry groups in the green. Industrial REITs is posting a 2.3% gain and regional banks is up 1.8%.

Even the energy sector (+1.0%) has rebounded into the green, despite a 1.4% slide in crude oil prices.DJ30 +53.36 NASDAQ +6.68 SP500 +7.61 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1446/1271/508 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1476/1445/322 mln

10:30 am : Stocks recover after falling to fresh session lows on the weak new home sales data. Utilities are leading the recovery effort with a gain of 1.3%. Meanwhile, telecom (-0.5%) pares most of its losses.

With regard to the new home sales data, the December seasonally adjusted annual rate of 604,000 is 4.7% less than last month's reading and is 40.7% less than last year's number. The median sales price of a new house in December was $219,200. This equates to a 10.9% price drop year-over-year, the largest decline in nearly four decades. At the current sales rate, there is a 9.6 month supply of new homes. In 2007, there were an estimated 774,000 new homes sold, down 26.4% from 2006.

This number of sales is very low, and the large supply of inventory should keep pressure on prices for some time. Homebuilders are down 2.7% this session.DJ30 +6.91 NASDAQ -2.28 SP500 +2.60 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1632/1008/342 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1763/1100/205 mln

10:05 am : Just hitting the wires, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce said December new home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 604K. Economists were expecting sales to hold at 647K. November's reading was revised downward to 634K. Stocks had climbed back to the unchanged mark, but fell back into the red after the disappointing data.

Three of the ten sectors are trending higher. Utilities is leading the way with a 0.6% advance. Telecom is the main laggard with a 1.7% drop, as it continues its poor showing this year.DJ30 -74.87 NASDAQ -13.77 SP500 -6.56 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1624/790/120 mln

09:40 am : The stock market dips into the red after opening on a slightly higher note. Foreign markets saw another day of steep declined on fears of U.S. economic slowdown. Japan's Nikkei fell 4.0% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 4.3%. Goldman Sachs said in a report dated Jan. 25 that Japan is either already in a recession or is very likely to do so in the first quarter, according to SCMP.com.

Earnings news leaned bullish. McDonald's (MCD), Corning (GLW), Sysco (SYY) and Halliburton (HAL) topped earnings expectations. Verizon (VZ) came in-line with expectations. McDonald's is trading lower though, as investors were disappointed with its flat December U.S. same-store sales.DJ30 -53.57 NASDAQ -16.76 SP500 -4.97

09:13 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.3. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -2.0.

08:59 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -2.2. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -3.0. Stock futures shed a few points and suggest a slightly lower open. The Dec. new home sales report is set for release at 10:00 ET. Economists are expected a reading of 645K.

08:30 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +0.3. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -4.5. S&P 500 futures are now pointing to a flat open as investors respond positively to this morning's earnings

reports. McDonald’s (MCD) announced its dividends declared will now be paid on a quarterly basis. Nasdaq futures are pointing to a slightly lower open.

08:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -5.0. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -10.0. Futures indicate a lower start for stock market after foreign markets fell sharply on concerns of U.S. economic slowdown. Japan closed down 4.0% and Hong Kong ended its session 4.4% lower. Earnings reports have lifted futures off their worst levels. Verizon (VZ) reported earnings in-line with expectations. Corning (GLW) topped earnings expectations by one cent and issued first quarter earnings guidance above the consensus estimate. McDonald’s (MCD) beat expectations by $0.02.

06:18 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -8.1. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -19.3.

06:18 am : FTSE...5761.40...-107.60...-1.8%. DAX...6709.27...-107.47...-1.6%.

06:18 am : Nikkei...13087.91...-541.25...-4.0%. Hang Seng...24053.61...-1068.76...-4.3

Market Update Wed, Jan 23, 2008, 4:25AM ET - U.S. Markets closed.

4:25 pm : There are volatile markets and then there are volatile markets. Wednesday's session was the latter variety, which is to say it was truly volatile. To wit, the swing in the S&P 500 between its low of the day, reached around 12:45 p.m. ET, and its high of the day, reached around 3:50 p.m. ET, was 69 points or 5.4%.

The bearish mood that predominated for the first half of today's session was driven by a relatively disappointing earnings report and outlook from Apple (AAPL 139.07, -16.57) and a remark from ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet that left participants inclined to believe the ECB won't be following the Fed's lead and cutting its key bank rate.

The latter precipitated a widespread sell-off in European bourses, most of which dropped between 3.0% and 5.0% for the day. Their poor showing carried over to the U.S., which was already on the defensive amid consumer spending concerns that flowed from Apple's conservative outlook.

Briefly, Apple forecast fiscal second quarter sales of $6.8 billion and earnings of $0.94 per share versus analysts' expectations of $6.98 billion and $1.09, respectively.

Correspondingly, the tech sector led the early retreat along with the energy, telecom, and materials sectors, which traded down sharply on growth concerns. Those concerns were reflected in falling oil prices, which hit $86.65 a barrel at their low before rebounding some to $87.59 at the end of the trading session.

The energy sector declined as much 6.3% at its low today. Remarkably, it closed with a gain of 0.6% after participating in the afternoon rally.