Stock markets today: Wall Street firmer after Hong Kong stocks fall to worst day since 2008

NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. stocks held steady Tuesday as falling oil prices revealed some of the stress on markets.

The S&P 500 was 0.7% higher in midday trading and has largely recovered Damage from previous day. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 33 points, or 0.1%, and was close in line record of Set last week, when the Nasdaq Composite was 1.1% higher, as of 11:15 a.m. ET.

Wall Street held firm even as stock markets around the world sank after a scare in China as euphoria about possible stimulus to the world's second-largest economy gave way to despair. Stocks in Hong Kong fell 9.4% for the worst day since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Helping support Wall Street was a sharp drop in oil prices. They have returned some big recent gains to that concern Tensions are rising in the Middle East Maybe eventually Obstruction of oil flow.

A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 4.5% to $77.28. A barrel of benchmark US crude, meanwhile, fell 4.7% to $73.53.

The pressure from the bond market in the stock market has also decreased somewhat. Treasury yields were flat a day after hitting their highest levels since the summer.

The 10-year Treasury yield held at 4.03%, where it was at Monday's close. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations of what the Federal Reserve will do with overnight interest rates, fell to 3.97% from 3.99% late Monday, though it was still near the highest level since August.

While Treasurys offer high yields, investors are generally less willing to pay very high prices for stocks and other investments. And Treasury yields stormed higher last week after a suite of reports showed the US economy may be healthier than expected.

Such reports have been seen, including one last week Very strong hiring by US employers Than forecasts, raise hopes that the economy will avoid a recession. But they also force traders to scale back expectations for the Federal Reserve Interest rates will be reduced byNow it has widened its focus to include Keep the economy humming instead of just Fight against high inflation.

Traders have abandoned expectations for the Fed to cut its key interest rate by half a percentage point below normal at its next meeting, for example. Instead, they're betting on a traditionally sized cut of a quarter of a percent, according to CME Group data. Some are even betting on a small possibility that the Fed could keep its key rates steady in November.

On Wall Street, PepsiCo later rose 1.3% Delivering strong profits For the latest quarter, though, its revenue fell short of analysts' expectations.

CEO Ramon Laguerta also said the company now expects “low single-digit” growth in a key measure of revenue for the year after forecasting growth of about 4%. US consumers continue to pull back On buying snacks and drinks after years of price hikes.

DocuSign jumped 8.1% after S&P Dow Jones Indexes said the electronic document signing company would join its S&P MidCap 400 index. DocuSign will replace MDU Resources, which was downgraded to the S&P SmallCap 600 after announcing last week that it was spinning off its construction services subsidiary, Everus Construction Group.

On the losing end of Wall Street were oil-and-gas companies, which gave back some of their big recent gains, driven by a jump in crude prices. Chevron fell 2% and was one of the biggest factors behind the Dow lagging other indexes.

In stock markets overseas, trading in mainland China resumed after a national holiday. Earlier, indices in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose on hopes of stimulus from the government and the central bank to support flagging growth in the economy.

On Tuesday, China's economic planning agency detailed measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. This contributed to a 9.4% decline for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index.

In Shanghai, where markets closed last week after Hong Kong ran higher, stocks rose 4.6% after they reopened.

China's frustration has had global repercussions, with companies in Europe, the United States and elsewhere that do a lot of business in and around China shedding their stocks. Estee Lauder fell 3.5%, for example, while Wynn Resorts lost 2.7%.

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AP Business writers Matt Ott, Elaine Kurtenbach and Jane Sue contributed.