NEW YORK — A day of broad swings in the stock market ended with modest gains Tuesday, as investors balanced an increase in U.S. retail sales with Europe’s lingering debt crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 17 points. The Dow ping-ponged between gains and losses for much of the day. It had been down as many as 78 at noon and up as much as 86 points during a late afternoon rally that fizzled just before the market closed.

Technology stocks had the biggest gains. Intel Corp. rose 2.9 percent a day after Warren Buffett revealed that his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., had bought a stake in the company. Hewlett-Packard Co. rose 3.4 percent, the most among the 30 stocks in the Dow.