NEW YORK — After months on hiatus, volatility is back on Wall Street.

Stocks ended higher yesterday after another day of big swings. Stronger reports on manufacturing and housing gave the market an early boost but a rise in the dollar and worries about the soundness of an eight-month rally chipped away at the gains.

After nearly unbreakable gains since midsummer, trading has become much rockier in recent weeks as investors worry that the pace of the economic recovery they have been counting on will be hard to maintain.