Mumbai, May 20 -- The Dow fell more than 300 points in early trading but ended the day up 137.33 points (0.3%) at 42,792.07. The S&P 500 also inched up 5.22 points (0.1%) to 5,963.60 while the Nasdaq crept up 4.36 points or less than a tenth of a perecnt to 19,215.46.

Moody's has downgraded the U.S. debt rating by a notch to Aa1 from Aaa. It also said the downgrade reflects the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns.

Selling pressure waned as traders seem to remain generally optimistic about the outlook for the markets. Conference Board released a report showing its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators slumped by more ...