Wall Street has finished little changed after another rocky trading session, as the market weighed better US economic data against its fears over sluggish global growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday declined 24.50 (0.15 per cent) to 16,117.24, rebounding after losing more than 200 points earlier in the session.
The broad-based S&P 500 edged up 0.27 (0.01 per cent) to 1,862.76, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2.07 (0.05 per cent) to 4,217.39.
US stocks appeared headed for another dismal performance early in the day as fears over the European economy took hold.
But investors took heart from a 1.0 per cent gain in US industrial production in September and a drop in weekly jobless claims to a 14-year low.
Analysts also cited comments from James Bullard, head of the St Louis branch of the Fed, who suggested the central bank could extend its bond-buying program rather than winding it down, as had been expected.
“The stock market is showing some interesting signs of life,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.
Delta Air Lines rose 2.9 per cent after it gave a bullish outlook for the fourth quarter and officials said they did not expect the Ebola virus to significantly affect airline travel.
Competitors United Airlines (+2.9 per cent) and American Airlines (+4.0 per cent) also rose.
Video-streaming company Netflix plummeted 19.4 per cent on disappointing subscriber growth figures.
Apple dropped 1.3 per cent as it unveiled a thinner version of its iPad tablet and said its mobile payment system, known as Apple Pay, would begin operations on Monday.
Toymaker Mattel fell 3.0 per cent after reporting a 22 per cent fall in third-quarter net income to $US331.8 million ($A358.99 million), caused in part by a 21 per cent drop in sales of the iconic Barbie doll.
US pharmaceutical company Abbvie dropped 3.2 per cent after announcing that its board of directors no longer backs a $US54 billion takeover of Irish-based competitor Shire following new US tax rules that discourage inversion deals in which a US company shifts its headquarters overseas.
Chesapeake Energy bolted 17.0 per cent higher following news it will sell shale oil and gas assets to Southwestern Energy for $US5.4 billion. Southwestern tumbled 10.4 per cent.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose to 2.15 per cent from 2.09 per cent on Wednesday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.94 per cent from 2.88 per cent. Bond yields and prices move inversely.
