Wall Street ends losing streak with late surge

A late burst of buying erased some of the stockmarket’s losses, leaving indexes mixed on Wall Street at the closing bell.

The S&P 500 added 0.3 per cent, with all of it coming in the last 10 minutes of trading. The gain ended a four-day losing streak for the benchmark index.

The Dow Jones added 0.5 per cent and the Nasdaq composite slid by 0.3 per cent. The ASX is set to rise, with futures at 6.31am AEST pointing to a rise of 25 points, or 0.3 per cent, at the open. On Thursday, the ASX tumbled by 2 per cent.

Technology stocks were once again the heaviest weight on Wall Street. Nvidia dropped 7.7 per cent after the chipmaker said the US government imposed new licensing requirements on its sales to China.

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Energy stocks fell as the price of US crude oil, which is coming off its third month of declines, dropped 3.6 per cent to $US86.32 a barrel. Chevron slid 1.6 per cent.

Health care stocks were a bright spot. Johnson & Johnson rose 2.5 per cent.

Smaller company stocks also lost ground, pulling the Russell 2000 index 1.2 per cent lower. In Europe, major stock indexes were down. Markets in Asia closed lower.

Treasury yields were broadly higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans, rose to 3.26 per cent from 3.20 per cent late on Wednesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which tends to track expectations for Fed action, rose to 3.54 per cent from 3.50 per cent.