US stocks fought back from a bruising open Monday, as a midday rally in Apple and a handful of other major stocks eliminated most of the market`s early losses.
Near 1700 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16,334.51, down 125.24 (0.76 percent) after dropping more than six percent in the opening moments of trade.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 19.40 (0.98 percent) to 1,951.49, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 21.02 (0.45 percent) at 4,685.02.
Apple jumped 2.1 percent after earlier sinking as much as 13 percent. The rise came after chief executive Tim Cook told the CNBC network that Apple`s sales continued to show "strong growth" in China in July and August.
Fellow Dow member Intel gained 3.6 percent, while a few other Dow components were veering in and out of positive territory, including Disney, Microsoft and Nike. The biggest losses included DuPont (-1.8 percent) and UnitedHealth Group (-2.4 percent).
"Things have somewhat calmed down a bit," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities.
"The only thing that`s guaranteed for the next few days is volatility, whether it`s to the upside or downside."
US stocks have dropped four straight days as worries about an economic slowdown in China have spurred selling in global equity markets.
On Monday, the Shanghai index plunged 8.49 percent, while bourses in England, France and Germany were all off more than four percent.
The steep equity declines added to talk that the US Federal Reserve was now likely to push back a plan to raise interest rates until later in 2015, or 2016.
