Earlier, the major Asian stock markets were down 2% or more, especially by the decline in resource companies as a result of the contraction in the price of raw materials.

The Dow closed with a gain of 14.21 points, or 0.1%, at 9882.17. The Standard Poor #39; s 500 fell 3.54, or 0.3%, to 1063.41 while the Nasdaq fell 25.76, or 1.2%, to 2,116.09.

In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.2% to 5200.97, in Frankfurt the DAX added 0.1% to 5.635.02 and France's CAC-40 fell 0.01 % to 3743.95.

In Europe, markets opened with solid gains, boosted by shares of oil after BP exceeded analysts' expectations with its results for the third quarter.

BP gained 5% on the London Stock Exchange after seeing their profits shrink in the third quarter by 34% to 5,300 million dollars, by lowering the oil and gas levels record a year ago. That exceeded analysts' forecasts by much.

However, the actions on both sides of the Atlantic began to decline when a private research group reported that U.S. consumer confidence fell in October because of the negative prospects of the labor market, sparking speculation that the retail selling season to year could be worse than expected.

The Consumer Confidence Index the Conference Board fell to 47.7 in October, when it should arrive at least 90 to indicate that the economy is in good standing.

consumer spending is considered key for the recovery because it is responsible for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic performance.

On the positive side of news, the housing price index for Standard Poor #39; s/Case- Shiller, which tracks the values in 20 major metropolitan markets, rose 1% between July and August and did so for the third consecutive increase.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 1.5% to 10,212.46 points. The Hong Kong, which closed on Monday, slid 1.9% to 22,169.59.

The Shanghai index down 2.8% to 3021.46 points. The in Australia fell by 1.6% and India's Sensex was contracted by 2%.

In Seoul, the Kospi slipped 0.5% to 1649.53 points.

reference crude rose 87 cents to close at $ 79.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Journalists from The Associated Press, Jeremiah Marquez in Hong Kong and Tim Paradis in New York contributed to this report.