Modest Gains From Mixed Day

The markets ended up after alternating from gains to losses in today’s session, MarketWatch reports. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to make traders uneasy about financial firms, but strong results from Hewlett-Packard provided a welcome distraction. The Dow closed up 68.88 at 11,417.42. The Nasdaq gained 4.72 points, closing at 2,389.08, while the S&P 500 climbed 7.85 to 1,274.54.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stocks both fell around 25% on published reports about the increasing likelihood of a government bailout. “This Fannie and Freddie thing has to be resolved,” one analyst said. “The market wants some sort of resolution and the sooner the bail-out, the better it will be for the market. Until that takes place, the market is not going to be comfortable.” (More Dow Jones stories.)