NEW YORK » Wall Street rebounded yesterday in another turbulent session, as investors rushed back into the market after the Standard & Poor's 500 index tested a 2003 low.

The market, which had been down four of the past five sessions, has been volatile amid worries about how long a recession might be. That's driven many retail investors to the sidelines, while big institutional traders like hedge funds keep major stock indexes vacillating.

That was the case yesterday as stocks rallied in the final hour of trading. At least some of the buying was because fund managers whose portfolios are tied to the S&P 500 had to find a replacement for Anheuser-Busch Cos. The brewer was officially removed from trading at the market's close after its takeover by Belgium's InBev SA was completed.

There was some encouragement about corporate earnings after Hewlett-Packard Co. said fourth quarter and 2009 results will sail past Wall Street expectations. HP vaulted $4.25, or 14.5 percent, to $33.59.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that wholesale prices plunged a record amount in October, a drop that could indicate a rising threat of deflation. Meanwhile, homebuilders' confidence in a near-term housing recovery sank to a new all-time low this month, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index. NAHB Chairman Sandy Dunn said the report “;shows that we are in a crisis situation.”;

The Dow ended up 151.17, or 1.83 percent, to 8,424.75.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 8.37, or 0.98 percent, to 859.12, after earlier in the drifting toward its 2003 low of 818.69. The Nasdaq composite index rose 1.22, or 0.08 percent, to 1,483.27. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.79, or 0.84 percent, to 447.51.

Declining issues narrowly beat advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to a light 5.9 billion shares.

The uncertainty on Wall Street has kept Treasury bonds in high demand.

Longer-term Treasurys also moved higher, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note falling to 3.53 percent from 3.66 percent.

The three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest assets around, remained at 0.10 percent from Monday's close.

Yields that low suggest that investors are willing to earn virtually nothing on their investments as long as their principal is preserved.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke were grilled on Capitol Hill about their management of a $700 billion financial bailout. Paulson told the House Financial Services Committee that the U.S. has “;turned a corner”; in averting a financial collapse, but more work needs to be done.

The dollar fell against most other major currencies. Gold prices also fell. Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 56 cents to settle at $54.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.