MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Fluctuate On Debt-ceiling Uncertainty

By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks wavered between small gains and larger declines on Wednesday as Wall Street continued to fret over the partial government shutdown and looming debt-ceiling deadline as the budget standoff persisted in Washington.

"I wish I could be watching earnings and economic data, but the goofiness in Washington is pretty much taking all the air out of the room," said Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners.

"There is very little grey area, and the problem is we won't know until we get there, so investors are placing their bets on both sides of the market at this point," Nolte added.

After fluctuating between small gains and losses, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell as much as 57 points, and was lately up 5.33 points at 14,781.92.

The S&P 500 index (SPX) shed 2.52 points, or 0.2%, to 1,652.93, with the consumer discretionary and energy sectors leading losses and telecommunications and utilities pacing gains.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) rallied nearly 6% after Chief Executive Meg Whitman said the company is poised to see "pockets of growth" in 2014.

Alcoa Inc. (AA) rose 3.5%, a day after the aluminum producer reported better-than-anticipated quarterly earnings. (Read more on Alcoa results: http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/10/08/what-alcoas-results-say-about-global-manufacturing/.)

Shares of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. (JOSB) and Men's Wearhouse Inc. (MW) both rallied after Men's Wearhouse spurned the former's buyout offer.

The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) declined 28.30 points, or 0.8%, to 3,650.68.

For every three stocks rising, roughly four fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where 284 million shares traded as of 12:30 p.m. Eastern.

Composite volume neared 1.7 billion shares.

Treasury prices were mixed, with the yield on the 10-year note (10_YEAR) used in figuring mortgages and other consumer loans up 3 basis points at 2.662%.

The dollar(DXY) gained against the currencies of major U.S. trading partners and crude (CLX3) and gold (GCZ3) fell, with oil futures off $2.07, or 2%, at $101.42 a barrel and gold futures down $23.70, or 1.8%, at $1,300.90 an ounce.

Janet Yellen, now vice chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, will be nominated to succeed Ben Bernanke as Fed chief, with an announcement expected to come from President Barack Obama in the afternoon.

At 2 p.m. Eastern time, the central bank will release minutes from its September meeting, at which the Fed unexpectedly refrained from tapering its $85 billion in monthly asset purchases.

The development comes as Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill continue to spar over the partial government shutdown and hiking the debt limit.

"The market is starting to slowly price in a chance of default; we don't pay our bills, everybody takes a look at the U.S. a little differently at that point. That's part of why I think we'll get a deal, but it's politics not finance," said Nolte, who believes the stock market could drop as much as 10% should politicians fail to hike the nation's debt ceiling before an Oct. 17 deadline.

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