NEW YORK -- Stocks closed higher Tuesday after the Dow dropped nearly 680 points Monday in response to the official word that the U.S. is in a recession.
Stock Indexes at Close
Monday's major tumble on Wall Street had Asian stocks falling overnight.
The Nikkei was off more than 6 percent, and the Hang Sang was down 5 percent.
It's Official: U.S. In Recession
The National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007.
Many economists said they believe the current downturn will last through at least the middle of 2009, and will be the most severe slump since the recession in 1981 and 1982.
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More Interest Rate Cuts Possible
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said further interest rate cuts are "certainly feasible."
The Fed's key interest rate now stands at 1 percent, a level seen only once before in the last half-century.
To help lift the country out of recession, many economists predicted the federal reserve will drop the rate again at their meeting later this week.
New Auto Sales Figures Expected
November sales figures for new automobiles are due out Tuesday, and it looks like another dose of bad news for an industry already struggling to survive.
Analysts expected across-the-board sales of new cars to be down 36 percent compared to November 2007.
Oil Drops To Near 3-Year Low
Oil prices have fallen to near a three-year low, below $49 a barrel.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it will likely reduce output quotas by between 1 million and 1.5 million barrels a day at its Dec. 17 meeting.
OPEC has already cut output by 2 million barrels a day for the year.
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