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New York - US stocks recovered from a sharp opening fall sparked by a Portugal bank scare and general investor caution to end with modest losses on Thursday.
After the initial reaction, traders appeared to discount the potential impact of problems in Lisbon-based Banco Espirito Santo, which sent shudders through European financial markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 70.54 points (0.42 %) at 16 915.07.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 8.15 (0.41%) to 1 964.68, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slid 22.83 (0.52%) to 4 396.20.
Earlier losses for the S&P were nearly 1%.
"Portugal was certainly an issue... the news that there is a concern about a missed payment by the country's second-largest lender certainly created a lot of volatility," said Alan Skrainka of Cornerstone Wealth Management.
"It shows there is a lot of nervousness," after US markets hit record highs last week, he said, calling the news "an excuse for the stock market to sell off."
Shares in television network CBS sank 3.5%, with some analysts blaming the sell-off on a snub of some of its top-rated shows like The Good Wife in the nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards.
Netflix, which received several nominations for its shows House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, lost 1.0%. The big winner in the nominations was HBO, whose parent Time Warner slipped 0.3%.
United Airlines parent UnitedContinental Holdings soared 12.7% on better-than-expected data on per-passenger revenues in the second quarter.
TRW Automotive also bucked the market trend, jumping 7.8% when on the disclosure that it had received a buyout offer. It gave no details but media reports said the buyer is the German company ZF Friedrichshafen.
Supercomputer maker Cray announced a $174m deal with the National Nuclear Security Administration, sending its shares up 15.8%.
Hardwood flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators sank 21.5% after slashing second-quarter earnings projections by a third, citing slower sales partly attributed to the unusually harsh weather earlier in the year.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury dropped to 2.54% from 2.55% on Wednesday, while the 30-year rose to 3.37% from 3.36%. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
