US stocks down after erratic trading

Wall Street ended a mildly erratic day slightly lower today after anxiety about widening credit problems offset investor optimism about a $2bn capital infusion into troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp.

The market gave up a moderate early gain, but fluctuations were to be expected given the amount of uncertainty about the credit markets, and the fact that stocks posted big gains yesterday, pushing the Dow Jones industrials up 145 points.