Stocks fight back

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street cut its losses in late morning trade Thursday, stabilizing after a steep early selloff amid another decline in overseas markets and a big jump in a key inflation measure.

A surprisingly strong read on the manufacturing sector of the economy and a willingness of select buyers to step in after the recent battering helped temper losses.

The Dow Jones industrial average (Charts) slipped about 28 points or 0.2 percent, after falling about 200 points near the open.

The broader S&P 500 (Charts) index lost 0.1 percent and the Nasdaq (Charts) composite lost 0.3 percent.

Trying to limit declines, the New York Stock Exchange imposed downside trading curbs at 9:45 a.m. ET, CNN confirmed.

Stocks managed modest gains Wednesday, as Wall Street tried to stabilize after Tuesday's battering, in which the Dow saw its worst one-day point loss since the day the market reopened after the Sept. 11 attacks.

A 9 percent decline for the Shanghai market Tuesday is what got the ball rolling, creating a bit of a domino effect as markets in a variety of countries slumped in response to China and other factors.

Stocks stabilized Wednesday but gains were slight, despite comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that provided some comfort.

On Thursday, the pummeling resumed in the first half hour of trading, with the Dow down more than 200 points as investors eyed another steep selloff in Chinese markets and a subsequent decline in European markets.

However, as the morning wore on, the selling let up, as a "cushion of cash" flowed into the market, said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co.

"We have some investors who have been waiting for the kind of dip we've seen over the last few days and are using this as an opportunity to come back in," Dickson said.

Despite this, "the nervousness and change of sentiment that we've seen over the last few days is going to be with us for a while, at least until we see a turnaround in the global markets," Dickson said.

Adding to worries for investors Thursday: a report showing that personal income and spending, as well as the report's closely watched inflation measure, all rose more than expected in January.

That was countered by a report released after the start of trading showing a bigger-than-expected jump in the February ISM manufacturing index to a level that signals expansion in the sector.

Another report showed a surprise hike in weekly jobless claims.

In corporate news, software maker Oracle (Charts) said it will buy rival Hyperion (Charts) for $3.3 billion in cash.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners two to one on volume of 890 million shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by two to one on volume of 1.09 billion shares.

U.S. light crude oil for April delivery rose 31 cents to $62.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, reversing early declines.

Treasury prices gained as investors continued to seek safety, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note rose to 4.55 percent from 4.56 percent late Wednesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

in currency trading, the dollar slumped versus the euro and the yen, with the Japanese currency surging as traders rush to pay back yen loans.

COMEX gold for April delivery rose 50 cents to $673 an ounce.

Brutal day on Wall Street

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