WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the sell-off seen during Thursday's session, stocks saw further downside in early trading on Friday but showed a significant recovery attempt as the day progressed.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 climbed well off their lows and into positive territory before eventually ending the day roughly flat.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 30.23 points or 0.1 percent 22,900.59, while the S&P 500 edged down 3.38 points or 0.1 percent to 6,734.11.
The narrower Dow, on the other hand, pulled back further off the record closing high set on Wednesday, sliding 309.74 points or 0.7 percent to 47,147.48.
After seeing considerable volatility over the past few days, the major averages turned in a mixed performance for the week. The Nasdaq fell by 0.5 percent, while the S&P 500 crept up by 0.1 and the Dow rose by 0.3 percent.
Weakness among technology stocks continued to weigh on Wall Street early in the session amid lingering valuation concerns.
However, tech heavyweights Nvidia (NVDA), Palantir Technologies (PLTR) and Tesla (TSLA) moved to the upside over the course of the session after initial weakness.
While some traders used the initial slump as an opportunity to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels, buying interest remained somewhat subdued amid uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates.
Recent comments from Federal Reserve officials as well as indications key U.S. economic data may never be released due to the government shutdown have reduced confidence the central bank will continue lowering interest rates next month.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicates the chances of another quarter point rate cut at the next Fed meeting have slumped to 45.9 percent from 66.9 percent a week ago.
Sector News
Despite the recovery attempt by the broader market, airline stocks extended Thursday's slump, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 2.0 percent.
Notable weakness was also visible among retail stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent loss posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index.
On the other hand, energy stocks moved sharply higher along with the price of crude oil, driving the NYSE Arca Oil Index up by 2.0 percent and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 1.7 percent.
Computer hardware and software stocks also saw some strength on the day, regaining ground after helping lead the markets lower in the previous session.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.8 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slid by 1.0 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index fell by 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries came under pressure over the course of the session after seeing initial strength. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 3.6 basis points to 4.148 percent after hitting a low of 4.065 percent.
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