A robust Treasury auction revealed some investor hesitation in stocks and exchange-traded funds, many of which closed down Tuesday.

Long-term Treasury futures reached their highest prices of the day following the auction of a record $44 billion in two-year notes, which saw a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.63, much stronger than the average of 2.92 from the last six two-year auctions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a gain of 14 points after swinging back and forth throughout the session, closing at 9882. The Nasdaq was down 26 at 2116 and the S&P 500 dropped 4 to 1063.

The Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index fell for October, a worse-than-expected decline to 47.4 The Case-Shiller home-price indexes showed U.S. home prices logged their third monthly increase in August.

The indexes showed prices in 10 major metropolitan areas fell 10.6% in August from a year earlier but rose 1.3% from July. In 20 major metropolitan areas, home prices dropped 11.3% on the year but were up 1.2% from the previous month.

The mixed finish follows two consecutive days in the red for stocks, which amounted to the Dow's first set of back-to-back triple-digit declines since June. The slump came on skepticism about a rally that has lasted seven months and pushed the Dow to its highest point of the year last week.

The Case-Shiller data showed that compared with the previous month, only Charlotte, N.C., Cleveland and Las Vegas posted declines. Month-to-month gainers were led by Minneapolis, which posted a 3.2% gain, and San Francisco, which rose 2.8%. Cleveland fared worst, falling 0.5%.

For a detailed rundown on Tuesday s trading session see our market story.

Winners

The iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond fund rose 1.4% as investors backed off equities. Another up day for oil prices pushed the United States Oil fund 1.1% higher for the day.

Losers

The recent strengthening of the dollar against the real pushed back shares of iShares MSCI Brazil Index fund, which shed 3.0%. Eroding consumer confidence figures from the Conference board pushed shares of the SPDR S&P Retail fund down 3.2%.

Launching Pad
Van Eck filed a request with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch an exchange-traded fund linked to Indian small-cap companies. It will track the Market Vectors India Small-Cap Index in the same manner as the recently launched Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap fund. No ticker has yet been assigned for the proposed fund.

Wednesday s Notebook

Earnings and Conference Calls
8x8, Inc., ACCO Brands, Acerinox, Acxiom, Advance America, Cash Advance Centers, Advanced Analogic Technologies, Advanced Energy Industries, Affiliated Managers Group, Aflac, Agnico-Eagle Mines, Akamai Technologies, Aker Biomarine, Alliance HealthCare Services, American Commercial Lines, American Safety Insurance, Amerigon, ArcelorMittal, Ariba, Ashland, AsiaInfo, Aspen Insurance Holdings, Assurant, Asure Software, Avalonbay Communities, Avista Corporation, BAA, Basic Energy Services, Beacon Enterprise Solutions, Belden, BG Group, BioSphere Medical, Blackbaud, BorgWarner, Boston Private Financial Holdings, Brandywine Realty Trust, Broadpoint Securities Group, Bryn Mawr Bank, Cabot, CACI International, Cadence Design Systems, Cal Dive International, California Water Service Group, CB Richard Ellis Group, Celadon Group, Churchill Downs, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Community Health Systems, CommVault, Compellent Technologies, ConocoPhillips, Duke Realty, Enterprise Products Partners, Equity Residential, Euronet Services, Express Scripts, Famous Dave's of America, First Solar, Flowserve, FMC, Fujitsu, General Dynamics, GlaxoSmithKline, GSI Commerce, Hanesbrands, Harleysville Group, Harmonic, HCL Technologies, Hercules Offshore, Hess, HickoryTech, Horace Mann Educators, Infospace, InterDigital, Interface, International Coal Group, International Paper, Internet Brands, Interpublic Group, Jarden, Jones Apparel Group, Lazard, LeCroy, Level 3 Communications, Lincoln National, LSI, MainSource Financial Group, MasTec, MeadWestvaco, MedAssets, Mediobanca, Mercer International, MHI Hospitality, Nanophase Technology, Newell Rubbermaid, Newport, Nexen, Odyssey Healthcare, O'Reilly Automotive, Owens Corning, Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, PepsiAmericas, Praxair, PSS World Medical, Questar, Qwest Communications, Rollins, Ryland Group, Sealed Air, Sherritt International, Southern, Steiner Leisure, Sun Healthcare Group, Susquehanna Bancshares, Symantec, Taleo, Teradyne, Torchmark, Tyler Technologies, UniFirst, UniSource Energy, Unisys, United Microelectronics, United Rentals, Universal American, Wausau Paper, WellPoint, Wyndham Worldwide, XL Capital, Zilog

Economic Data
8:30 a.m. Durable Goods Orders
10:00 a.m. New Home Sales
10:30 a.m. EIA Petroleum Status Report