Stocks End Mixed as Earnings Start

Stocks ended mixed after moving between small gains and losses Tuesday, as investors looked to earnings for a reason to extend the market’s rebound. The Dow average ended down 16.88 points, or 0.15%, at 11,416.30. The S&P 500 ended up 0.65 point, or 0.05%, at 1,195.54. The Nasdaq Composite rose 16.98 points, or 0.66%, to 2,583.03.

Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA), the largest U.S. aluminum producer, said third-quarter profit jumped from a year ago, but earnings and revenue slipped from the second quarter as economic growth slowed from the first half of this year. Net earnings were $172 million, or 15 cents per share, compared with $61 million, or 6 cents per share, a year earlier.

The Occupy Wall Street movement took protests to the New York homes of super-wealthy executives on Tuesday as rallies against economic inequality were planned this week for over 50 U.S. college campuses and in several cities around the world.

Despite President Barack Obama’s exhortations, the Senate prepared to swiftly kill his jobs package Tuesday and the White House and congressional leaders were already moving on to other ways to cut the nation’s painfully high unemployment without raising taxes.

The Slovak parliament rejected a plan to expand a 440 billion euro ($600 billion) bailout fund, throwing a wrench at the euro zone’s effort to contain the debt crisis and resulting in the collapse of the Slovak government, according to media reports Tuesday.