Investing.com -- U.S. stocks bounced off lows early in Tuesday's session as Treasuries staged a dramatic rebound, but still closed broadly lower on a volatile day of trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 100 points on Tuesday morning, before rallying in the afternoon session to end the day at 18,068.23, down 36.94 or 0.20%. Stocks on the Dow plunged shortly after U.S. markets opened when U.S. 10-Year Treasuries reached a six-month high at 2.36%, but rebounded as yields leveled off at 2.26%. The Dow is still down roughly 1% since reaching a record-high of 18,288.63 on March 2.
The NASDAQ Composite index and the S&P 500 Composite index and the S&P Composite index each fell by more than 0.25% during a bearish session. The NASDAQ dipped by 17.38 or 0.35% to 4,976.19, while the S&P 500 fell 6.21 or 0.29% to 2,099.12, as both hovered near all-time closing records. On the S&P 500, eight of the 10 sectors closed in the red as stocks in the Basic Materials, Technology and Health Care industries lagged. Stocks in the Energy and Telecommunications sectors led.
Shares in AOL Inc (NYSE:AOL) soared more than 18% on Tuesday after Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) announced plans to acquire the multination mass media and web search engine company for $4.4 billion or $50 per share. AOL gained 7.93 or 18.62% to 50.52, after reaching a 15-month high at one point in the session.
While the deal is expected to help bolster Verizon's digital advertising platform, AOL claims it has no plans to sell the Huffington Post or any of its other content units. Shares in Verizon fell 0.18 or 0.36% to 49.62.
Meanwhile, shares in DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV) rose 1.23 or 1.38% to 90.61 after the Wall Street Journal reported that a potential $49 billion merger with AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) is unlikely to be blocked by federal regulators. Shares in AT&T inched up 0.17 or 0.51% to 33.66.
The top performer on the Dow was Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT), which gained 0.86 or 1.10% to 78.96. The worst performer was Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 0.44 or 1.35% to 32.35.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was VimpelCom (NASDAQ:VIP), which rose 0.31 or 5.88% to 5.58. VimpelCom finished just ahead of Discovery Communications Inc (NASDAQ:DISCA), one day after the mass media company announced it will release its second-quarter earnings in mid-August. Discovery Communications is currently priced at roughly 18 times its forecasted earning, significantly below the industry multiple of 23. Discovery gained 1.25 or 4.05% to 32.02 on Tuesday.
The worst performer was Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU), which dropped by 0.86 points or 3.10% to 26.89. Micron finished just below Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX), which fell 3.33 or 2.61% to 124.08. On Tuesday, a group of Vertex executives met with members of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to address concerns with its cystic fibrosis drug Orkambi, which is currently under review.
On the S&P 500, the top performer was Pall Corporation (NYSE:PLL) after the Wall Street Journal reported that a $13 billion deal could be in the works to acquire the New York-based filtration supplier. Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) and Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) could emerge as the top bidders, according to the Journal. The worst performer was FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC), which fell 2.91 or 4.80% to 57.77.