Stocks ended in a stalemate Tuesday as enthusiasm for an upbeat manufacturing report and a $44 billion acquisition by Warren Buffett was tempered by weak semiconductor stocks.

Today's Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 17.53 points, or 0.18%, to 9771.91, the S&P 500 rose 2.53 points, or 0.24%, to 1045.41 and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 8.12 points, or 0.40%, to 2057.32. The consumer-friendly FOX 50 dropped 3.04 points, or 0.40%, to 765.03.

While it was a mixed day on Wall Street, the markets closed well off their worst levels of the day as an early 86-point decline on the Dow was mostly erased. 

"The market is in a little bit of quicksand here. We just seem to be on the negative side of the equation," NYSE trader Ted Weisberg of Seaport Securities told FOX Business. "They continue to look kind of tired to me."

The Dow was led lower by Merck (MRK) and Intel (INTC), which was reeling from an analyst downgrade of the semiconductor sector. On the other hand, Alcoa (AA) and Caterpillar (CAT) were the index's biggest percentage gainers.