After Rocky Start, Dow Finishes Higher

The holiday is over, the grind is back on Wall Street.

The grind returned to Wall Street on Monday, after stocks opened lower and traders braced for what's predicted to be another weak earnings season.

An afternoon rebound faded then revived near the end of the session for a low-volume, see-saw day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened low, swung back to positive territory and closed up 44 points at 8325. The Nasdaq dropped 9 points to close at 1787, and the S&P 500 gained 2 to close at 899.

Energy prices accelerated the post-holiday slide, as crude dipped more than $2 a barrel to close below $64. Energy prices across the board declined, with natural gas ebbing 14 cents to $3.48 per cubic foot. Smaller exploration and production companies such as Anadarko Petroleum (APC) and Devon Energy (DVN) took hits.

Earnings season kicks off more or less officially this week, when the first Dow component releases its second-quarter results. Aluminum producer Alcoa (AA) is expected to post its third consecutive quarterly loss on Wednesday in a report that threatens to leave the market deeper in the red. Of course, the price of aluminum has plummeted with a broader selloff in commodities, but starting the season with a big loss could weigh on traders.

World markets were broadly lower Monday after the World Bank said the global economic recovery could be more than six months away. 2009 "remains a dangerous year," World Bank President Robert Zoeillick said in a letter to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose country is hosting the July meeting of Group of Eight. "Recent gains could be reversed easily, and the pace of recovery in 2010 is far from certain," he said, Reuters reported.

In autos, General Motors inched closer toward a reboot. A U.S. judge approved the firm's bankruptcy sale, which will allow GM's most profitable divisions to emerge from Chapter 11 protection more than a bit slimmer.