MARKET SNAPSHOT: Stocks Eke Out Gains In Choppy Trade

By Anora Mahmudova and Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

Netflix soars after beating estimates by wide margin

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks ended Tuesday's choppy session with marginal gains, as technology stocks led advances. The main benchmarks turned big early losses into gains, only to end roughly where they started the session.

Intraday volatility reflects uncertainty about the monetary policy in Europe, with investors appearing skeptical about the ability of central banks to combat deflationary forces.

The European Central Bank is widely expected to announce a government-bond-buying program on Thursday; however, the program's scope may disappoint investors, analysts have warned.

U.S. markets were closed on Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

The S&P 500 (SPX) closed 3.13 points, or 0.2%, higher at 2,022.55, with technology stocks in the lead.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) ended with a marginal gain of 3.66 points to 17,515.23.

The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) outperformed other indexes, adding 20.46 points, or 0.4%, to 4,654.85. Apple Inc, (AAPL) the largest component on the index accounted for a big portion of the gains, as the stock rose 2.6%.

Ten-year Treasurys rallied but trimmed initial gains. The yield declined by 1.2 basis points to 1.803% at the close. The yield on the benchmark debt has steadily declined over the past 12 months.

"The big elephant in the room is deflation, and many portfolio managers are beginning to adjust their models to work in a low-interest-rate environment," said Marty Leclerc, chief investment officer of Barrack Yard Advisors. "That adjustment period spells volatility."

Leclerc stressed that in the short term the environment will be favorable for stocks, as investors may justify higher price-to-earnings ratios when real interest rates are at zero.

Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital, said the day's action is all about the fear of a global economic slowdown. "We are in the midst of earnings, and markets are not reacting to positive results, and the culprit is concern about Asia and Europe," he said. "The bond market is afraid of deflation, which is why we are seeing such low yields on long-dated Treasurys."

In economic news, a gauge of confidence among home builders ticked down this month by one point to 57, staying close to the highest level since late 2005, according to National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo data released Tuesday morning. Readings above 50 signal that builders, generally, are optimistic about sales trends.

Home-builder stocks were down sharply. PulteGoup Inc. (PHM) fell 3.6% and D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI) declined 3.4%.

Tuesday has been a choppy day for equities. Stock futures had been climbing after better-than-expected economic data from China, whose gross domestic product expanded 7.4% last year, beating market expectations of 7.2%. Still, that marked the slowest rate of growth since 1990 for the world's second-largest economy. Meanwhile, European equities traded near seven-year highs ahead of an expected unleashing of a sovereign-bond-buying plan by the European Central Bank when policy makers meet Thursday.

Earnings results: Morgan Stanley's (MS)quarterly results missed analyst expectations, and shares fell 0.4%.

Netflix Inc (NFLX) shares soared 12% in aftermarket trade, after profits surged past estimates and provided an upbeat outlook for net subscriber additions.

Delta Air Lines Inc. shares (DAL) jumped 7.3% after the company beat estimates,reporting fourth-quarter revenue of $8.24 billion.

Shares of Halliburton Co.(HAL) rose 1.8% after the company reported better-than-expected results but warned that 2015 could be a challenging year for the oil-field services company, which is planning to acquire Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI)

Consumer-products heavyweight Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) beat profit expectations, but sales fell shy of estimates. Shares fell 2.6%.

Twitter Inc.(TWTR) in a blog post Tuesday said it's buying India-based mobile-marketing company ZipDial for an undisclosed sum. Shares rose 0.7%.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.(DWA) last week started letting workers go, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Other markets: Chinese stocks rose nearly 2% after Monday's selloff and Japan's Nikkei Average closed 2.1% higher, its strongest percentage gain in a month.

Gold futures (GCG5) rose more than 1% for their seventh consecutive daily gain. Crude-oil futures settled sharply lower Tuesday. Crude futures for delivery in February (CLG5) fell $2.30, or 4.7%, to end at $46.39 a barrel.

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