NEW YORK (

Wall Street has ended a temperamental session widely mixed after investors grappled with JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s buyout of the stricken investment bank Bear Stearns & Co.

The Dow Jones industrials are up about 21 points at the 11,972 level. Early in the session, the blue chips were down nearly 200.

Meanwhile, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq composite indexes ended lower. Investors have been bailing out of investment banks and small-cap stocks and fleeing instead to large companies apt to be reliable during a weak economy.