US stocks open modestly higher as markets stabilize

The unexpected 130bn yuan (£13.6bn) injection by the Chinese central bank came after Monday’s crash on the CSI 300 index triggered a “circuit-breaker” mechanism to suspend trading for the day.

However, British clothing retailer Next fell 3 percent after saying its sales performance in the run-up to Christmas was disappointing, blaming unusually warm weather in November and December, poor stock availability and increased online competition.

NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. stocks are opening modestly higher as trading stabilizes a day after a plunge in China unsettled investors around the globe.

“Clearly the fear over China hasn’t abated”, said Ben Kumar, investment manager at Seven Investment Management, which has over $9 billion in assets under management and administration.

Chinese authorities acted on several fronts to calm investors Tuesday.

“I think the circuit-breaker system is useless, the market will slump anyway”, said Zhou Junan, a 22-year-old retail investor, who said he’s holding back from buying stocks until later in the year. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 2.246%.

Global stocks are mostly in the red this morning amid another volatile session in China.

Mr. Annenkov said that encouraging economic data out of Europe suggests that developed markets can continue to grow even as emerging markets struggle amid a weaker Chinese economy.

Auto stocks, which are sensitive to Chinese demand, had another bruising day, falling 1.3%.

Data from US industry group American Petroleum Institute, expected at 2130 GMT, will give an indication of USA crude inventory levels.

France’s CAC 40 index slipped 0.5% to 4,502.24, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.2% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-stocks-rebound-after-worst-day-in-three-months-2016-01-05) to 6,102.29. Brent Crude, the worldwide standard, lost 5 cents at $37.18 per barrel in London.

ANZ bank said the tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran will “reduce the likelihood of any collaboration between the two oil majors regarding oil output as Iran re-enters the global market once sanctions are lifted”.

Gold was up 0.2% at $1,071.10 a troy ounce after rising sharply on Monday as investors sought safe havens.

The weakness remained in Australia on Tuesday, where the commodity-heavy S.&P./ASX 200 index was down just over 1 percent. Attempts to do so over the past 12 months have been complicated by separate measures to overhaul procedures at the central bank and local governments’ ability to raise and spend money.

While markets appeared comparatively calm on Tuesday, continued volatility could raise questions for the United States Federal Reserve, which raised interest rates for the first time in more than nine years last month, partly over concerns that global turbulence could hamper the United States economy.

Yi made the statement hours after the International Monetary Fund announced that the yuan is eligible for joining its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket, alongside the dollar, the euro, pound and yen.