United States stocks, in search of rebound, point up; will gains stick?

Energy companies led the rally, climbing along with the price of crude oil.

After yesterday’s drubbing, which extended Wall Street’s worst start to a year ever and pushed the broad US stock market down more than 10% from their highs and back into correction territory, the stock market is again trying to mount a rebound.

The Dow Jones industrial average was flat at 16,148 as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time.

Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) rose 2% to $58.44 after the investment bank said quarterly profits rose thanks in part to higher earnings within its investment-banking division.

The S&P 500 was up 21.7 points, or 1.15 percent, at 1,911.98 and the Nasdaq Composite index was up 45.11 points, or 1 percent, at 4,571.18. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 22 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 1,912. Societe Generale analyst Albert Edwards predicted Wednesday that the S&P 500 would fall 75 percent as the bull cycle came to an end.

Stocks, of course, are being re-priced at lower levels due to the same headwinds and fears that have haunted stocks all year: a rout in commodity markets and concerns that the global economy is on the cusp of a severe slowdown as growth in China – the world’s second-biggest economy – slows.

According to the veteran market commentator, U.S. stocks are now off US$1.77 trillion, while overseas stocks are down US$1.4 trillion.

Looking ahead, the electronics store operator expects a 4 percent drop in revenue for its fourth quarter. The stock added 33 cents to $57.67.

SHAKY CAM: GoPro slumped 16.1 per cent a day after the wearable camera maker disclosed plans to eliminate about 100 jobs.

OIL PRICES: A day after US crude oil briefly fell below $30 a barrel for the first time since late 2003, it was up 79 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $31.27 a barrel in NY. GoPro lost $2.36 to $12.25. In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dived 2.7 percent, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.9 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.6 percent.

On the Nasdaq, 1,668 issues rose and 919 fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.11 percent from 2.09 percent late Wednesday. The euro rose to $1.0904 from $1.0876, while the dollar fell to 117.56 yen from 117.78 yen.