US stocks open higher, shaking off another drop in China

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 24 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,965. Wall Street stocks finished deep in the red last week, posting the worst first week of a calendar year in history.

In Shenzhen, Hebei Steel, down 0.3 percent to 3.62 yuan; BOE Technology, down 3.2 percent to 2.75 yuan and Myhome, up 2.0 percent to 5.68 yuan were among the most actively traded.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.4 per cent to 3,110.72 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 2.6 per cent to 19,916.43.

Fifty minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 21.95 points, or 0.13 percent, at 16,368.40. Germany’s DAX slid 2.6 percent, the France CAC 40 gave up 1.9 percent, and Britain’s FTSE 10 lost 2 percent.

OVERSEAS: European markets were mixed. In China, the Shanghai composite fell 5.3 percent.

CHINA’S WOBBLES: Chinese stocks rebounded Friday but analysts suggested that was due to buying from a group of state entities dubbed the “National Team” that is charged with shoring up share prices.

“It’s been a panic-selling-type week and the USA markets have opened down more than 1.5 percent below the previous close in three of the last four days”, wrote Roberto Friedlander, head of equity trading at Brean Capital, in reference to the overnight sell-offs in China. The aluminum producer said it would announce a $1.5 billion long-term supply contract with General Electric Inc.’s (GE) aviation unit on Monday (http: //www.marketwatch.com/story/alcoa-gets-15-billion-supply-contract-from-ge-2016-01-11-14853248).

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude shed 67 cents to $32.49 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, a benchmark for worldwide oils, fell $1.02, or 3 percent, to $32.91 a barrel in London.

Several mining companies also fell along with the price of copper.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.17 percent.

CURRENCIES: The dollar edged up to 117.30 yen from Friday’s 117.26 yen.

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