The S&P 500 Index ended an up-and-down session higher by three points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain and the Nasdaq indexes climbed.

Banks rallied, and energy producers surged after a report that Saudi Arabia lowered oil exports fuelled a surge in the price of crude. Stocks with high dividend yields fell the most as the 10-year Treasury yield tumbled.

Equities started the day lower on poor sentiment sparked by a weak reading on Chinese manufacturing, which added to concern that global growth is slowing.

“The overall theme that’s been driving the market down is concerns about future economic growth and future earnings growth,” Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at Oakbrook Investments, said by phone.

“The concern is that the tariff action, while it hasn’t had a significant impact to date here in the US, is going to start weighing on things. And when we get these economic reports from overseas, principally from China, that provides some evidence that, yeah, it is starting to bite, and that makes people nervous.”

The risk-off tone that gripped markets in December eased a bit at the start 2019, with the threat of rising rates, an escalating trade war and slowing growth still looming.

While President Donald Trump made positive noises about reaching a trade deal with his counterpart Xi Jinping over the weekend, the Chinese data are a stark example to investors that the protectionist showdown is starting to have an impact on economic activity.

“The trend remains lower for now,” Kyle Rodda, an analyst at IG Group Holdings Plc, told Bloomberg Television.

“We’ve had rate hikes from the Fed effectively priced out, so we are looking at a situation when markets are thinking that we are entering a period of slower growth.”

Elsewhere, the dollar rose as the euro and pound slid – the latter falling even as UK manufacturing growth unexpectedly improved. Emerging-market equities slumped.