US stocks halted their downward slide on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovering just above the break-even mark at the close, despite ongoing gloom about the state of the global economy.

The world-wide rout seen on Thursday was arrested in early US trade, with the Dow up 0.33 per cent, 35 points above the previous session’s close.

The blue-chip index stood at 10,769.21 points at the closing bell, a day after $103 billion was wiped off the value of the index.

“The choppy action among stocks and currencies comes as many traders and investors juggle their holdings in the wake of recent sell-offs,” noted analysts at Briefing.com.

Consumer-focused stocks led the modest rebound. Nike rose over 5.3 per cent as investors weighted the firm’s latest earnings report.

Shares in Hewlett Packard fell 2.1 per cent after the struggling firm named former eBay chief Meg Whitman its new president and chief executive officer, replacing Leo Apotheker.

The bounceback came despite a tepid view of policymakers’ responses to the rekindled crisis.

A pledge from G20 finance ministers to mount a powerful response to global recovery threats appeared to do little to assuage fears.

The finance chiefs noted “heightened downside risks from sovereign stresses, financial system fragility, market turbulence, weak economic growth and unacceptably high unemployment.”

The G20 officials, grouping advanced and emerging-market economies, said they would work together to support growth and implement “credible fiscal consolidation plans.”

“This will require a collective and bold action plan, with everyone doing their part,” they said, hours after stocks plunged worldwide.

That statement was met with an incredulous response from some traders.

“Words are cheap,” said Carl Weinberg, chief economist with High Frequency Economics.

“So three of the 20 countries have committed to doing what they have already committed to doing, and none of the 20 brought to this meeting any new policy initiatives. Great!”

The broader S&P 500 rose 6.80 points (0.60 per cent) to 1,136.36, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 27.56 points (1.12 per cent) to 2,483.23.

On the bond market, traders continued to respond to the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to shift $400 billion worth of holdings into longer-term bonds, keeping yields near historic lows.

The 10-year yield hit 1.84 per cent, up from 1.72 per cent on Thursday.

The yield on the 30-year bond was at 2.90 from 2.80 per cent the previous day.

Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.