Some highlights from the day's business news:

Stocks closed mixed on Tuesday as investors digested a weak outlook from Hewlett-Packard, a grim read on the housing market and an unexpected drop in April industrial production.

Despite those negative factors, stocks ended the session well off the lows set earlier in the day.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 69 points, or 0.6%, to close at 12,780. The Dow was down more than 150 points earlier in the day.

The blue chips were dragged lower by a 7% drop in shares of Hewlett-Packard. The PC maker reported a 3% increase in sales but warned the current quarter will be hurt by the impact of the March earthquake in Japan and weak PC sales.

George Soros dumps $800 million gold stake

Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros sold nearly $800 million of gold during the first quarter, as the precious metal surged to record highs.

While gold made up a relatively small slice of the Soros Fund Management's $8.4 billion portfolio, the sale suggests that Soros does not expect prices to continue much higher.

Gold prices have risen sharply this year amid a broad rally in the commodities market. But the metal has come under pressure after earlier this month rising to $1,557.40 an ounce, its highest level ever in non-inflation adjusted terms.

Soros Fund Management now owns only about 49,400 shares of SPDR Gold Trust, worth $6.9 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SPDR Gold Trust is one of the most widely held gold-backed exchange traded funds. Soros's position in December was worth $655 million, when the fund owned 4.7 million shares of the ETF.

–CNNMoney.com's Ben Rooney and contributing writer Ken Sweet contributed to this report.