Stocks Recover Most Early Losses As Volatility Again Hits Wall Street. U.S. Oil Tops $110 A Barrel

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks recovered most of their earlier losses as volatility returned to Wall Street after two days of solid gains.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2% after slumping as much as 1.5% in early trading Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 154 points, or 0.3% as of 12:35 p.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. Stocks in Europe pared their losses.

Oil prices remained elevated although down from earlier highs. The price for a barrel of U.S. crude rose close to $114 a barrel at one point.

The unsettled trading follows a national address late Wednesday from President Donald Trump, where he vowed the U.S. will continue to attack Iran and failed to offer a clear timetable for ending the conflict in the Middle East. Those comments appeared to dim the hopes for a near-term conclusion to the war that had pushed stocks higher through most the week.

Major indexes are still on track to close out the week with gains. Thursday is the last day of trading on Wall Street this week with with the stock market closed on Good Friday.