India, Jan. 13 -- After recovering from initial weakness to end Monday's session modestly higher, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday.

The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually ending the day in negative territory.

The Dow slid 398.21 points or 0.8 percent to 49,191.99, the Nasdaq edged down 24.03 points or 0.1 percent to 23,709.87 and the S&P 500 dipped 13.53 points or 0.2 percent to 6,963.74.

The Dow pulled back off the record closing high set on Monday amid a slump by shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), with the financial giant tumbling by 4.2 percent.

JPMorgan came pressure after reporting fourth quarter profits that decreased year-o...