Dow closes down 66 points in second day of wild trading

Jan. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. markets fell Tuesday in another whirlwind day of trading after turning in one of the most dramatic turnarounds in recent years on Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day down 66.77 points, or 0.17%, but fluctuated wildly throughout the day as it was down as much as 819 points and up nearly 178 points at its highs. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 fell 1.22% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.28%.

On Monday, the Dow lost 1,000 points in early trading, only to gain it all back late to finish in the black.

"The rollercoaster trading atmosphere continues," Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge said Tuesday, according to CNBC. "The lows from yesterday though haven't been breached."

After the bell on Tuesday, Microsoft announced it beat estimates, reporting revenue of $51.7 billion, a 20% increase, while net income rose 21% to $18.8 billion. Shares of the company fell 2.66% ahead of the report and were down 4.01% in early after-hours trading.

General Electric said Tuesday it missed revenue estimates, leading to a 5.98% loss Tuesday morning. Johnson & Johnson, on the heels of a lukewarm quarterly report, closed the day up 2.69%.

American Express stock was the highest gainer on the Dow and S&P 500, rising 8.87% after its earnings surpassed expectations.

Tuesday's losses came as the Federal Reserve started its two-day policy meeting. Policymakers are expected to discuss raising interest rates and shrinking the Fed's nearly $9 trillion balance sheet to address inflation. Investors anticipate a rate hike as soon as March.

Greg Staples, head of fixed income in North America for DWS Group in New York said policymakers "really need to get their arms around the balance sheet and what the plan is there, in order to not do any preemptive tightening, and come to a mind meld about what they are doing in March and whether a 50-basis-point rate hike is on the table," MarketWatch reported. "They're not going to want to commit way too soon."

The 10-year treasury yield rose to about 1.78%, a bump up from 1.735% on Monday, pushing bank stocks higher as Citigroup gained 2.25% and Bank of America climbed 2%.