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Financial worry pushes S&P 500 below 700


    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell in volatile trading on Tuesday, with the S&P ending below 700 for the first time since October 1996 as persistent uncertainty about the amount of money needed to shore up the financial system overshadowed a hunt for bargains.

    * Stocks swung to both sides of the break-even mark throughout the session with the S&P's ultimate break below the key psychological level of 700 adding to the gloom.

    * Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke left the door open to whether banks will need more money when he said the size of a $700 billion bank-rescue package would depend on bank "stress tests" being conducted by regulators and the direction of the economy.

    * The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 37.27 points, or 0.55 percent, to end unofficially at 6,726.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 4.49 points, or 0.64 percent, to 696.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 1.84 points, or 0.14 percent, to 1,321.01.

    (Reporting by Charles Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)