Stocks end mixed; Dow off 5.9 points

Financial markets rose Tuesday and then drifted down for the close with the Dow Jones industrial average ending the day with a loss.

At the close on Wall Street, the Dow was off 5.88 points, or 0.04 percent, at 16,315.19. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 2.96 points, or 0.16 percent, to 1,877.70. The Nasdaq composite was up 13.52 points, or 0.32 percent, to 4,227.17.

LONG WAY BACK: Stocks are coming off their worst week in more than two years. The Dow went negative for the year on Friday. A late-afternoon slide on Monday extended the market slump, sending the Dow 222 points lower. The Dow is now down 1.1 percent for 2014, and the S & P 500 index is up 2.1 percent.

BANK REPORT CARDS: Several major banks posted third-quarter corporate earnings. JPMorgan Chase returned to a profit, but missed Wall Street's expectations. The stock ended the day down 17 cents at $57.99. Wells Fargo's earnings matched analysts' expectations, while Citigroup's results came in better than expected. Wells Fargo slipped $1.37 to close at $48.83. Citigroup rose $1.57 to close at $51.47.

TASTY SLICE: Domino's Pizza jumped 11.33 percent on better-than-expected earnings and revenue, closing up $8.58 at $84.30.

REGAINING ALTITUDE: Several airline stocks surged a day after the sector got pummeled amid mounting worries that the Ebola virus outbreak could curb travel spending. Delta Air Lines jumped $1.89 to close at to $32.79, while Southwest closed up $1.12 at $30. American Airlines Group gained $2.93 to close at $31.51.

COMPETITION CONCERNS: Johnson & Johnson raised its 2014 earnings outlook, partly due to revenue gains from its new blockbuster hepatitis C drug. But shares in the world's biggest health care products maker slipped 2.13 percent at the close as investors worried about looming competition for the drug. Shares ended down $2.11 cents at $97.01.

SECTOR MONITOR: Eight of the 10 sectors in the S & P 500 rose, with industrial stocks posting the biggest gain. Health care stocks fell the most.

SHAKY OUTLOOK: Resistance from Germany to increasing government spending to stimulate economic growth in Europe is dampening hopes for additional steps to counter what some economists believe may be a lapse back into recession for the region. On Tuesday, the German ZEW index of investor sentiment fell for a tenth consecutive month in October.