Markets hold steady after yesterday's big jump

Stocks' big climb yesterday seemed to set the stage perfectly for commentators to deploy some of their favorite threadbare cliches today. But the sell-off that would have given them the perfect excuse to talk about "profit taking" by investors concerned that the markets had become "overbought" never came, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell just 16 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 8,411.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's cautiously optimistic comments on the economy before a congressional committee provided stocks with some support, but investors were mostly cautious as they awaited the results of regulators' "stress tests" of banks' balance sheets.

For more on stocks making moves and news today, be sure to check out BloggingStocks' market wrap-up.