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NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street gave up most of an early gain and fluctuated Tuesday as investors looked for safe bets a day after the market's huge dive. The Dow Jones industrials up nearly 270 points in afternoon trading, retreated to a gain of only about 50.

There was little in the way of news to drive the market solidly higher. Investors did hear some reassuring words from Ford CEO Alan Mulally, who said his company has enough cash to make it through 2009 and may not need government help. Mulally's comments, in an interview with The Associated Press, came as Ford, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC returned to Washington to submit to Congress plans for remaking themselves; lawmakers demanded those plans before considering whether to give the automakers $25 billion in government support.

Analysts said investors found the prospect of a bailout heartening, but that stocks were following the market's now-familiar pattern of bouncing higher after a steep drop — and then retrenching again.

"It looks like the automakers are closer to a bailout, but it is hard to attribute these kind of market moves to news events," said Brian Gendreau, investment strategist for ING Investment Management. "You can speculate to death what drives the markets, but this market is going to be full of volatility."

And that volatility was apparent Tuesday afternoon, when the Dow dipped into negative territory before bouncing higher again.

The market's decline on Monday ended a five-day rally — the first such winning streak for the Dow and the S&P 500 since July 2007. Investors sold stocks lower Monday amid lackluster Thanksgiving weekend retail sales and an official confirmation that the country is in recession.

"We had one of the biggest drops in history on Monday, and right now we're dealing with a bounce from that sell-off," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. "A bear market bounce is very volatile, very sharp upturns. That's how they happen, they're quick and they're short."

Investors got an additional boost after the Federal Reserve said it will extend the life of key programs aimed at loosening the credit markets and restoring stability to the financial sector.

The Fed says the programs, originally slated to last through Jan. 30, will be extended through April 30. The Fed's emergency lending facility for investment firms is covered by the decision.

The decision helped placate investors concerned that the government's recent efforts to unfreeze the credit markets haven't been enough to encourage banks to resume normal lending practices.

But investors remained wary as the automakers released their November sales figures Tuesday. Ford said its sales tumbled 31 percent amid a continued slump in consumer spending and tight credit markets. Toyota's sales fell 34 percent despite its extension of zero-percent financing on a dozen vehicles. General Motors Corp. reported a 41 percent slide.

There were more signs of trouble for retailers, too, which is worrisome for a market already concerned that consumers won't be able to spend enough to boost the sagging economy. Sears Holdings Corp., battered by hefty charges and weak results at its U.S. department stores and Kmart locations, reported that it swung to a loss in the quarter. The company has previously said it will close eight more underperforming stores this year.

In afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 49.46, or 0.61 percent, to 8,198.55. Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 8.54, or 1.05 percent, to 824.75, while the Nasdaq composite index gained 14.84, or 1.06 percent, to 1,412.91.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 9.27, or 2.22 percent, to 426.34.