Erratic day on Wall Street

U.S. stocks fell hard today despite a surge in overseas markets following yesterday's rally, which was sparked by Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's hint that interest rates would be lowered.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed as much as 28 points early on but then fell as much as 218.59 points. The blue chip index, which shot up 257.21 points yesterday, closed down 152.42 points or 1.87 percent to 8,001.99.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq also moved back and forth early in the day, gaining as much as 8 points but losing as much as 46.5 points in the afternoon. The Nasdaq closed down 39.93 points or 2.27 percent at 1,720.34.

Overseas, Japan's benchmark Nikkei rose 3.02 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 4.4 percent. Germany's DAX, however, closed down 1.13 percent.

Also on Wall Street today, investors watched as one of the few initial public offerings to be floated out of late soared on its first day of trading. Online auctioneer eBay shot out of the gate by nearly tripling its share price. The company's offering was upped yesterday to $18 per share--the top end of its $16 to $18 expected range, which was raised from $14 to $16. The target price was raised because of strong demand for its shares, despite recent volatility in the markets.