4:30 pm

Stocks were up as much as 1.8% before the latest batch of economic data triggered a round of selling pressure. The major indices were able to finish the see-saw session with marked gains, but off their session highs.

November factory orders fell 4.6%. They were expected to decline 2.3% after falling 6.0% in October.

November home sales were down 4.0% month-over-month, which is worse than the 1.0% decline that was widely forecast. Sales were down 4.2% in the prior month.

Bucking the trend of worse-than-expected data, the December ISM Service Index came in at 40.6, which was better than the consensus estimate ...

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