NEW YORK — Wall Street ended a volatile session mixed yesterday as investors wrestled with a troubling outlook for bond insurers, a $9.4 billion write-down at Morgan Stanley and concerns that the economy is headed for recession.

Not all of yesterday's news was bad. Morgan Stanley got a $5 billion investment from China, and the Federal Reserve said its Monday auction of $20 billion in 28-day credit was met with solid demand — signs that there is cash out there to help the struggling banking industry recover.

But with just seven trading days left in 2007 and little data to convince Wall Street that the economy is on the upswing, investors hesitated to make any big bets on stocks.

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