US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-Wall St cuts losses late to end down slightly

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended a volatile session down slightly on Tuesday as a late-day rally by materials and healthcare shares offset another big drop in oil prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 9.32 points, or 0.06 percent, to 16,017.73, the S&P 500 had lost 0.97 points, or 0.05 percent, to 1,852.47 and the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 14.99 points, or 0.35 percent, to 4,268.76.

(Reporting by Marcus E. Howard; Editing by Nick Zieminski)