Stocks turn lower as Wall Street struggles to stage a comeback

New York
CNN
 — 

US stocks wavered Wednesday midday, giving back earlier gains as investors tried to recover from the week’s bruising losses.

The Dow was lower by 230 points, or 0.6%, Wednesday afternoon after gaining more than 400 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.7%.

CNN’s Fear & Greed Index, which measures seven barometers of market sentiment, rose to “extreme fear” territory from just “fear.”

The Cboe Volatility Index — Wall Street’s fear gauge — which measures bets on expected stock market volatility, ticked higher to 28.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the US benchmark for oil, rose 2.6% to $75.08 a barrel. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, ticked 2.3% higher to $78.23 a barrel.

Japanese stocks rose 1.2% on Wednesday, extending their rally after the benchmark Nikkei 225 index on Monday saw its largest daily percentage drop since 1987. Japan was also hit hard by the appreciation of the yen after its central bank last week raised interest rates for the second time in 2024.

US stocks on Tuesday rebounded slightly after recent labor and manufacturing data spurred worries about slowing growth in the US economy, fueling a painful selloff across global markets. The Dow and S&P 500 logged their worst day since 2022, with the blue-chip index closing more than 1,000 points lower.

“A global recession has been predicted on and off for more than 18 months and, at least in the US so far, has failed to materialize,” said Sean Frank, chief investment officer at Cloud Equity Group. “The best recommendation for investors remains the same: Diversify your portfolio.”

Even the market’s best-performing names, the Magnificent Seven tech stocks, saw steep losses during Monday’s session as investors fretted that artificial intelligence has yet to result in a boost for companies’ top lines. The Magnificent Seven companies lost $615.6 billion in value on Monday, according to S&P Global data.

This is a developing story and will be updated.