The major market averages erased most of Wednesday's early losses and have emerged into positive territory after reassurances by White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow regarding a U.S./China trade war threw cold water on this morning's meltdown on Wall Street.

Panic selling was triggered when China retaliated to U.S. trade restrictions by placing a 25% tariff on 106 U.S. products, raising the stakes to an all-out trade war between the world's two largest economies. The Dow shed as much as 600 points with industrials taking the brunt. The selling frenzy was briefly mitigated by better-than-expected jobs data but still indicated a significantly lower open.

Price action improved after the open on the combination of dovish comments from St Louis Fed president James Bullard and statements from Kudlow intended to ease trade-war jitters. The Dow pushed off support at its 200-day average with the aid of consumer discretionary stocks like Nike ( NKE ) and Coca-Cola ( KO ).

The upheaval surrounding Chinese trade restrictions eclipsed economic data on the labor market, services sector of the economy, and factory orders. Private payrolls increased by 241,000 in March, exceeding estimates for an increase of 185,000.

The final purchasing manager's services sector index dropped to 54.0 in March from 55.9 in February, missing expectations to remain unchanged from the 54.1 flash reading.

The corresponding index from the ISM showed a small decline to 58.9 from 59.5 in February, also below 59.0 estimates.

Factory orders jumped 1.2% in February, nearly offsetting a revised 1.3% drop the month prior, but below +1.7% estimates.

Europe's markets followed the lead of their U.S. counterparts by reversing most of their losses and closing only modestly lower with automakers and miners leading laggards. The UK's FTSE-100 outperformed its European peers by climbing into the green just ahead of the close.

Crude oil was down $0.43 to $63.08 per barrel. Natural gas was up $0.04 to $2.74 per 1 million BTU. Gold was up $1.30 to $1,338.70 an ounce, while silver was down $0.14 to $16.25 an ounce. Copper was down $0.05 to $3.01 per pound.

Among energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund was down 0.55% to $12.74 with the United States Natural Gas Fund was up 1.53% to $22.57. Amongst precious-metal funds, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF was down 0.41% to 21.89 while SPDR Gold Shares were up 0.21% to $126.57. The iShares Silver Trust was down 0.77% to $15.34.

Here's where the markets stand at mid-day:

U.S. MARKETS

NYSE Composite Index was down 54.06 points (-0.44%) to 12,313.76

Dow Jones Industrial Index was down 78.08 points (-0.32%) to 23,955.28

S&P 500 was down 8.07 points (-0.31%) to 2,606.40

Nasdaq Composite Index was up 14.96 points (+0.21%) to 6,955.90

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

FTSE 100 was up 3.55 points (+0.05%) to 7,034.01

DAX was down 44.55 points (-0.37%) to 11,957.90

CAC 40 was down 10.32 points (-0.20%) to 5,141.80

Nikkei 225 was up 27.26 points (+0.13%) to 21,319.55

Hang Seng Index was down 661.41 points (-2.19%) to 29,518.69

Shanghai China Composite Index was down 4.79 points (-0.15%) to 3,131.84

NYSE SECTOR INDICES

NYSE Energy Sector Index was down 66.86 points (-0.62%) to 10,780.81

NYSE Financial Sector Index was down 19.85 points (-0.25%) to 7,945.06

NYSE Healthcare Sector Index was down 17.19 points (-0.12%) to 13,995.02

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) TENX (+73.87%) FDA agreed phase 2 clinical protocol can be submitted under IND

(+) PTI (+16.85%) Combination cystic fibrosis treatment receives FDA fast trade designation

(+) ASTC (+11.21%) Tracer 1000 entered into development test and evaluation stage with Homeland Security

DOWNSIDE MOVERS:

(-) CLDR (-39.39%) Q4 results beat expectations but issued downbeat FY19 revenue guidance

(-) RMGN (-17.93%) Agreed to be acquired by SCG Digital for $1.27 per share, 12% discount from previous closing price

(-) CLLS (-12.69%) Announced $175 million follow-on ADS offering

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.