Wall Street ends at standstill amid caution over virus cases

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street held at a near standstill on Thursday, with indexes split as caution about rising coronavirus infections in hotspots around the world washed over hopes for a coming economic recovery. The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1% after wobbling between gains and losses all day. Treasury yields also slipped in a sign of increased caution. Markets have slowed following a tremendous, nearly 40% rally for U.S. stocks that began in late March. Discouraging numbers on coronavirus infections have dented optimism that the economy can pull out of its recession quickly. Crude oil prices rose.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story is below:

Wall Street is flipping between small gains and losses Thursday as rising infection levels of the coronavirus clash with hopes for a coming economic recovery.

The S&P 500 was down 0.2% in afternoon trading after wafting between a gain of 0.2% and loss of 0.6%. Earlier, stocks fell more sharply in Europe and modestly in Asia. Treasury yields also slipped in a sign of increased caution.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 113 points, or 0.4%, at 26,019, as of 2:45 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%.

Markets worldwide have been showing more apprehension following a tremendous, nearly 40% rally for U.S. stocks that began in late March. Surprisingly strong reports on U.S. retail sales and employment have built hopes recently that the economy can pull out of its recession relatively quickly as governments ease up on lockdown orders.

But discouraging numbers on the coronavirus in various U.S. states and elsewhere in the world have dented the optimism. Even if authorities don’t reimpose widespread lockdowns to slow the spread of the virus, the fear is that consumers and businesses could get frightened and pull back on spending....