Major stock indexes wobble in early trading on Wall Street

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are wobbling between small gains and losses in early trading on Wall Street following a big gain from last week. Markets have swung sharply in both directions in recent weeks as investors try to gauge how much damage a virus spreading from China will do to the global economy. European and Asian indexes mostly fell. Oil prices fell, while U.S. government bond prices rose. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 1.56% The S&P 500 rose 1 point to 3,329. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed at 29,104 and the Nasdaq edged up 13 points to 9,534.

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

Global stock markets slid Monday after China reported an uptick in new virus cases and analysts warned optimism the disease is under control might be premature.

Indexes in London and Frankfurt were lower in midday trading and Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul closed lower. Shanghai edged up after spending most of the day in negative territory.

A decline last week in daily Chinese reports of new virus cases fed investor optimism the disease and its economic impact might fade. But economists and industry analysts warn the outbreak still is weighing on retailing, tourism, electronics, shipping and other fields.

Markets took the decline “as an early indication of containment,” Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank said in a report.

“But this may well prove to be premature relief,” said Varathan, adding that the market relief "is at best shallow, if not essentially no relief, at this point."

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 fell 0.2% to 7,452 and Germany's DAX shed 0.3% to 13,473. France's CAC 40 retreated 0.4% to 6,007.

On Wall Street, the futures for the S&P 500 index and for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were both down about 0.1%.

.

..