New York (CNN Business) The Dow staged a late day comeback on Thursday, ending 260 points higher to close another volatile day on Wall Street.

The Nasdaq closed narrowly higher, up 0.4% and the S&P 500 was up 0.8%.

Thursday's action came a day after the Dow surged 1,086 points in its biggest daily point gain ever. The Dow was down as much as 611 points earlier in the day, but rallied in the final hour of trading for a swing of nearly 900 points.

The market has been gripped by those kind of wild swings this month. Investors are balancing an economy that is still strong by many measures, including record-low unemployment, with concerns about a slowing economy in China and other parts of the world, trade policy that's in flux, and recent moves by the Federal Reserve.

The see-saw trading session came after huge gains on Wednesday for a market having its worst December since the Great Depression. The Dow had its best point gain ever, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their best performances since March 2009.