Nasdaq turns red for 2015; Dow off 77 points

Stocks climbed out of a deep dive Thursday, but the Nasdaq slid into negative territory for the calendar year as stocks posted their third straight down day.

The blue-chip Dow index took a hit from Caterpillar (CAT) after the company announced it would be cutting up to 5,000 jobs by the end of 2016 and could potentially shed up to 10,000 workers by the end of 2018. Shares plunged more than 6%.

Caterpillar to cut up to 5,000 jobs by end of 2016, stock falls 6%

The Dow Jones industrial average, which has closed lower four of the past five trading sessions, ended down 0.5%, a loss of 77 points. It had been down over 250 points earlier in the day.

The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index dropped 0.3% and the Nasdaq composite index slid 0.4%.

Now all three major benchmarks are down for 2015. After its 18-point loss on the day, the Nasdaq stands at 4734.48, about a point and a half below its 2014 close of 4736.05,

Investors continue to grapple with a host of negatives, including the stock market's inability to muster any signs of a lasting bounce, Volkswagen's emissions crisis and persistent worries over interest rates and China's economic slowdown.

Heading into Thursday's trading session the Dow was deep in correction territory, down 11.1% from its May 19 record high. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq, both off around 9% from their recent peaks, are also in danger of falling back into correction mode.

"Nothing good to report," is the way Gary Kaltbaum, president of Kaltbaum Capital Management, described the market's current prognosis in a note to clients.

Yesterday was a blah day on Wall Street, with the Dow tumbling 51 points, and there's little sign that the market -- at least now -- is ready to suddenly bounce sharply higher, Kaltbaum says.

"When the markets are in trouble, when the markets have recently sold off again and when the markets are a little bit oversold, one would at least expect some energy to the upside. Nothing doing," he told clients. "And when there is nothing doing, it tells us lower prices have still not enticed the big boys, thus even lower prices are in the offing."

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On the economic front, the latest reading on weekly first-time initial jobless claims came in at 267,000, below the 272,000 analysts estimated but up slightly from 264,000 in the prior week. Durable goods orders for August fell 2%, but that was a little better than expectations.

Shares in Europe were down again Thursday, hurt by a selloff in automaker stocks in the wake of the mushrooming emissions scandal surrounding Volkswagen's diesel cars. Shares of Germany's DAX were off 1.9%, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 1.9% and London's FTSE 100 was off 1.2%.

There is a general sense on Wall Street that the broad market, or S&P 500, will have to go back down and retest the panic lows of late August before stocks can mount any kind of sustained comeback. If the S&P 500 can hold its Aug. 25 closing low of 1867.61 the market could regain its bearings. But for now stocks look like they are on a collision course with those 2015 lows.

Asian stocks were mixed Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 2.8% as the market there reopened after a three-day holiday, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 1%. The Shanghai composite index in mainland China gained 0.9%.