US sharemarkets ended down on Tuesday after a volatile day of trading that saw all three major gauges trading near five-and-a-half year lows.

At the close of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 68.02 points, or 0.82 percent, to close at 8205.56, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 11.70 points, or 1.38 percent, to close at 839.05.

The technology-based Nasdaq composite lost 27.39 points, or 1.85 percent, to close at 1,454.66.

Investors were subjected to conflicting reports, with investors first buoyed by statements to a House committee, made by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, that the US$700 billion bailout has helped stabilise financial markets.

Markets soon turned negative, however, after a report from the National Association of Home Builders that said home builders' confidence in the housing market sunk to a record low in November.

One of Tuesday's big gainers was Hewlett-Packard, whose shares surged 14.49 percent to US$33.59 after it forecast a fourth-quarter profit above analysts' expectations. The news boosted fellow tech stocks Intel (up 0.83 percent to US$13.11) and Cisco (up 1.48 percent to US$16.45).

The price of oil fell 80 US cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange to close at US$54.15 a barrel, while the price of gold fell US$9.30 to be worth US$732.70 an ounce on the COMEX index.

In currency trading, the dollar gained against the euro and the yen.

© NewsRoom 2008