Late Rally Erases Afternoon Losses

U.S. stocks finished mixed yesterday, turning lower in afternoon trade after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy denied the country was ready to ask for an European Union bailout. The decline snapped earlier gains that had the major indexes set for their first back-to-back rise in over two weeks. September auto sales were mixed with Ford Motor Co (F) and General Motors (GM) missing sales expectations for the month while Chrysler and Toyota Motors (TM) easily cruised past industry projections. Overall September rose 13% over year-ago levels, supported by the big gains for Toyota. Commodities were mixed.

U.S. auto sales for September surged 13% from a year ago, beating analyst estimates for the month on the strength of cheaper financing deals, stronger consumer sentiment and rebounding sales of foreign models.

Toyota said vehicle sales rose 41.5% to 171,190 last month, while Honda Motor Co sales rose about 31% to 117,211 cars. GM sold 210,245 cars and trucks last month, up 1.5% from a year earlier. Ford sold 174,976 cars and trucks last month, down 0.2% from September 2011. Chysler sales climbed about 12% last month.

Across the Atlantic, Spain once again stayed in focus after worries over the health of Spain's banks and possibility of a bailout dominated. Moody's said late Monday that Spain's banks may face a greater capital shortfall than the government estimated last week.

Still, the prospect that Spain would finally reach out for aid was seen by many trader as a positive sign. So when Rajoy tried to tamp down speculation by saying no deal is imminent, his comments helped drag down equities this afternoon.

Commodities were mixed. Crude for November delivery declined 59 cents, or 0.6%, to end at $91.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. November natural gas gained 5 cents to settle at $3.53 per 1 million BTU. December gold fell $7.00 to $1775.80 an ounce, while December silver fell 27 cents to $34.67 an ounce. December copper rose 1 cent to $3.80 per pound.

Here's where stock stood end-of-day:

-Dow Jones Industrial down 32.75 (-0.24%) to 13,482.36

-S&P 500 up 1.26 (+0.09%) to 1,445.75

-Nasdaq Composite up 6.51 (+0.21%) to 3,120.04

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Hang Seng up 0.38%.

Shanghai Composite closed.

FTSE-100 up 0.38%.

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) INVE, Announces Increase in transponder, NFC orders

(+) CTIC, Gets Orphan Drug Designation for Malignant Brain Cancer Treatment from FDA

(+) ZUMZ, September comp-store sales increase 5.6%

(+) PCS, Reportedly close to a deal with Deutsche Telekom, which is looking to bolster its T-Mobile USA division.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) ARQL, Discontinues non-small cell lung cancer Phase III trial

(-) EXPR, Lowers Q3 EPS guidance below estimates

(-) GEL, Unitholders Begin 6-million unit offering