ABC: US Stocks Waver in Early Trading; Oil Recovers
Major stock indexes drifted in Wednesday morning trading, while the price of crude oil bounced back after a big drop the day before. More signs of a slowdown in China knocked markets in Asia lower but had little effect in the U.S.
KEEPING SCORE: As of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, the Standard & Poor's 500 index was down two points at 1,940. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 65 points to 16,265, and the Nasdaq composite rose five points to 4,761.
A VIEW: "We're seeing cooler heads prevail today," said Anthony Valeri, a market strategist at LPL Financial in San Diego. "When the market ignores some bad data out of China that's a positive story."
A private measure of manufacturing activity in China hit its lowest level in six years, a result of weaker factory production, overall new orders and hiring.
VOLATILE: Mounting concerns about slowing global economic growth and the timing of the Federal Reserve's first interest-rate hike in nearly a decade has battered markets in recent months. The S&P 500, the most widely used measure of U.S. investments, has lost more than 8 percent in three months.
DEAL CHATTER: Reports that Citrix Systems, a cloud-computing company, is trying to sell itself pushed its stock up. Under pressure from the hedge fund Elliott Management, Citrix has reportedly talked to private equity firms and other companies about a deal. The company's stock climbed 44 cents to $72.59.
EUROPE: Major indexes in Europe recovered some of their steep losses from the day before. Germany's DAX gained 1.2 percent, while France's CAC 40 rose 0.8 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 was up 1.9 percent.
ASIA'S DAY: Evidence of slowing economic growth hit markets across Asia. China's Shanghai Composite Index dropped 2.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 2.3 percent. South Korea's Kospi fell 1.9 percent, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 2.1 percent. Japan's stock market remains closed until Thursday for public holidays.
CRUDE: The price of benchmark crude oil edged up 28 cents to $46.64 a barrel in New York. It had plunged 2 percent the day before.
BONDS & CURRENCIES: Bond prices fell, lifting the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note to 2.16 percent from 2.13 percent the day before. The U.S. dollar strengthened to 120.48 yen while the euro gained slightly to $1.1170.
