US stock indexes gave up most of their earlier gains in afternoon trading as renewed economic worries dented investor confidence.
Citigroup (NYSE: C) shares dropped 5 cents or 1.19% to $3.75 in afternoon trading on volume of over 422 million. The three-month average daily volume for Citigroup is 827 million.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) fell 1.85% to $10.09 in afternoon trading. The stock has a 52-week range of $5.24-$14.57.
Shares of software Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) gained 46 cents or 1.98% to $23.73 in afternoon trading.
Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) rose 36 cents or 1.65% to $22.19 on volume of over 30.4 million.
Shares of beleaguered energy giant BP plc (NYSE: BP) soared $2.21 or 7.53% to $31.56. BP on Tuesday denied any plans to issue new shares to cover the cost of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Shares of BP also got a boost from growing speculation that the company has held talks with sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
