By Dan Strumpf And Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stocks rebounded in early trading a day after major indexes
posted their largest one-day losses since late July.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 51 points, or 0.3%, to
16997. The S&P 500 gained two points, or 0.1%, to 1698. The
Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 12 points, or 0.3%, to 4478.
The Dow was buoyed by a rally in shares of Nike Inc., which
reported a 23% increase in quarterly profits. Shares of the
shoemaker rose 9.8% shortly after the open.
Stocks tumbled Thursday, with the Dow shedding 1.5% to 16945.80.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.6% to 1965.99. Losses came amid ongoing
concerns about global growth, the pace of Federal Reserve
tightening and rising tensions between Western countries and
Russia.
Recent action leaves the major indexes poised for weekly losses.
The S&P 500 is off 2% this week. Investors remained concerned
about economic growth overseas, especially in China and the
eurozone.
Others remain optimistic about the outlook for stocks, arguing
that steady economic growth in the U.S. means that the market can
handle tighter Fed policy. Investors widely expect the central bank
to raise rates sometime next year after winding down its
bond-buying program in October.
Before the open, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S.
economy grew at a rate of 4.6% in the second quarter, up from a
previous estimate of 4.2%. The result was in line with
expectations. The final reading on September's consumer sentiment
is expected later in the morning.
"Ultimately strong economic growth is good for the markets,"
said Doug Cote, chief market strategist at Voya Investment
Management. "I'm a buyer at these levels."
Shares of Janus Capital Group Inc. rose 35%. Bill Gross, founder
of Pacific Investment Management Co., will join Janus next
week.
Stocks were mixed overseas. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell
0.9% to 16,229.86, dropping back into negative territory for the
year. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.4%.
Some investors say that Thursday's selloff and the resulting
spike in market volatility simply mark a return to normal trading
patterns after a sleepy summer for stocks.
"You should expect more volatility than we've had in the past
couple years, and this week is a bit of a taste of that," said Russ
Koesterich, chief investment strategist at BlackRock.
For Friday "it looks like the market has quieted down," Mr.
Koesterich said. "A couple things are helping--the GDP print was in
line, and also we didn't see a lot of follow-through selling
overseas."
The dollar continued to strengthen against major rivals. The
euro fell to $1.27 from $1.2751 late Thursday.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.522%,
according to FactSet. Yields move inversely with prices.
In other corporate news, BlackBerry Ltd. posted earnings
results, which included a smaller-than-expected loss and a sharp
drop in revenue. Shares rose 3%.
Shares of Apple Inc. rose 1.5%. The company has been defending
itself against reports that its new, larger iPhone bends easily in
people's pockets. The company also released a new update of
software for its mobile devices after yanking its previous
update.
Write to Dan Strumpf at daniel.strumpf@wsj.com and Saumya
Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com