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Stocks ticked up after Monday's global selloff, as a measure of home prices fell less than expected. The S&P 500 rose five points, or 0.4%, to 1319 in mid-afternoon trade. The index's consumer discretionary sector advanced 1.3%, on track for its steepest daily climb since June 14.

Investors yanked money out of stocks Thursday after new reports from the U.S. and China pointed to a sharp slowdown in manufacturing. The Dow Jones industrial plunged 251 points, the second-biggest drop this year. Losses in energy and materials companies led a widespread rout on the stock market. The Dow started sinking after 10 a.m., when the Philadelphia branch of the Federal Reserve reported a sharp contraction in manufacturing in the Northeast. The losses accelerated throughout the day.

Gloomy economic readings from three continents sent stocks skidding and spurred a bearish recommendation from Goldman Sachs, compounding losses in major benchmarks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 166 points, or 1.3%, to 12658 in afternoon trading on Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 21 points, or 1.5%, to 1334. The Nasdaq Composite ticked down 52 points, or 1.8%, to 2878, on course to snap a five-session streak of gains.

Investors appeared unimpressed Wednesday with the Federal Reserve's latest step to help the economy, an extension of a program to lower long-term interest rates. Stocks were little changed for the day, and the yields on Treasury bonds were trading about where they were before the Fed's announcement.

World stock markets rebounded Friday on anticipation that central banks will act to keep any political instability in Greece following weekend elections from destabilizing the global economy.

Greece looks close to bolting from the European Union with national elections this weekend. Spain’s banks were just bailed out, and Italy might be next. And, closer to home, Wall Street is still reeling about May’s crummy jobs report. So you’d think U.S. stocks would be tanking? Nope. Welcome to the bad-news rally: The Dow Jones industrial average shot up more than 160 points on Tuesday.

Stocks closed out its best week of the year Friday, as investors played things close to the vest before the weekend when Spain is expected to request aid for its troubled banks.

Stocks fell Friday, as investors erred on the side of caution ahead of a weekend expected to bring new developments in dealing with Spain's banking crisis.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc said it will offer cash and rebates totaling $40 million to compensate clients affected by the problems with Facebook Inc's initial public offering.

In an unlikely coincidence certainly unwelcome to China's communist rulers, the stock benchmark fell 64.89 points Monday, matching the numbers of the June 4, 1989 crackdown in the heart of Beijing. In China's lively microblog world, "Shanghai Composite Index" soon joined the many words blocked by censors. In another odd twist, the index opened Monday at 2,346.98. That is being interpreted as 23rd anniversary of the June 4, 1989 crackdown when read from right to left.