NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks fell steeply on Monday, with a triple-digit point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding to August’s losses so far, as the latest economic data on personal income and spending fueled ongoing concerns about the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 140.92 points, or 1.4%, to 10,009.73, as 29 of its 30 components ended lower. Hewlett-Packard Co. was the sole blue-chip gainer, gaining 1.5% after it announced a share-repurchase plan amid its pursuit of a deal to acquire 3Par Inc. . The Dow is currently off 4.4% for August with one trading session left in the month. The S&P 500 index fell 1.5% to end at 1,048.92, weighed by a 2.2% drop in its financials sector. The broad-market average is down 4.8% for August so far. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.6% to 2,119.97. The technology-heavy index has dropped 6% in the month so far.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks ended another volatile session mostly higher on Tuesday, with a rebound in materials and financial shares helping the Dow Jones Industrial Average recover most of a nearly 300-point drop that had pushed it below the 10,000 mark. Fear over the impact of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and tensions between North and South Korea had led the Dow industrials to as low as 9,774.48 during the session. But the blue-chip average recovered to end down 22.82 points, or 0.2%, at 10,043.75 by the close. Blue-chip gains were led by shares of Home Depot , up 2.3%, and Alcoa Inc. , up 1.9%. In the broad market, the S&P 500 index rose 0.38 points to 1,074.03, led by the materials sector, up 1.6%, and the financials and consumer discretionary sectors, both up 0.8%. The Nasdaq Composite ended down 2.6 points, or 0.1%, at 2,210.95.