David Hodari and Akane Otani 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 edged lower Tuesday, capping off a choppy session that sent major indexes lurching between gains and losses.

The blue-chip index swung 570 points from its high to its low and changed direction seven times as investors parsed headlines about trade and a potential government shutdown.

Stocks began the day on a high note, with the 30-stock index climbing as much as 368 points after President Trump said on Twitter that "very productive conversations" were happening around trade. Shares of auto makers also rose after China agreed to reduce tariffs on U.S. cars.

But typical of the volatile trading environment of the past two months, the indexes couldn't hold on to the gains. The Dow slumped as much as 202 points after Mr. Trump sparred with top Democrats, threatening to shut down the government if Congress didn't fund his proposed border wall.

Although stocks staged a brief comeback heading into the end of the trading day, the Dow reversed course yet again. Five of the seven directional changes happened in the last 90 minutes of the trading day, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The volatile session ultimately left major indexes little changed for the day, with the Dow industrials falling 53.02 points, or 0.2%, to 24370.24. The S&P 500 ended down 0.94 point, or less than 0.1%, to 2636.78 and the Nasdaq Composite added 11.31 points, or 0.2%, to 7031.83.

Analysts cautioned that the swings that have taken a hold of the market in recent weeks could extend into the end of the year. Investors are grappling with a range of worries that they fear could disrupt the long U.S. stock rally, including flaring geopolitical tensions and slowing growth.

Traders also appear to be less willing to scoop up shares following selloffs, something many have attributed to a desire to lock in returns as year-end approaches.

"The fragility of the market stems from the awareness that 2019 will not look anything like 2018 in terms of earnings and economic growth," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Financial. "Investors are getting used to this idea that this could be as good as it gets."

Apple shares fell 97 cents, or 0.6%, to $168.63 as the company tried to get a Chinese court to reconsider its decision to ban sales of older iPhones in China.

The court ruling added another source of friction in the trade skirmish between the world's two largest economies, as did the recent arrest in Canada of a top executive at Chinese firm Huawei Technologies.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 1.5%, reversing course after U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's postponement of a crucial Brexit vote in Parliament Monday sent shares sliding. Ms. May's decision to pull the vote further diminished many investors' willingness to bet on U.K. assets, some said.

"If you're a macro investor, you're going to get blown out of the water by events like yesterday's," said John Wraith, head of U.K. rates strategy at UBS.

"It makes investors incapable of trading those markets with any conviction whatsoever, so you see a lot of fund managers staying neutral and keeping their exposure to a minimum."

Shares in Asia were mixed, with India's Nifty 50 index slumping 1.9% after the governor of its central bank unexpectedly resigned from his post.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.3% and booked its second straight loss, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.1% and snapped a four-session streak of losses.

Central banking policy was also a subject of focus in the U.S., where data showed producer prices -- another gauge of inflation -- rising for the third consecutive month.

Investors and analysts widely expect the Federal Reserve to raise short-term interest rates when it meets next week, with CME Group data suggesting the market is pricing in a 78% probability of a rate increase.

Any forward guidance out of the Fed will be closely scrutinized, especially since some investors believe Chairman Jerome Powell has conveyed mixed messages over recent months. Mr. Powell jolted markets after suggesting rates weren't close to neutral and then subsequently appearing to backtrack on those remarks.

"I think he got a bit ahead of himself saying that we're not close to neutral," said Mark Heppenstall, chief investment officer at Penn Mutual Asset Management. "I think that was language we weren't prepared for and it helped tip the market. Now I think you'll see his language more focused on gradual patience."

Write to David Hodari at David.Hodari@dowjones.com and Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 11, 2018 17:01 ET (22:01 GMT)

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