Blue Chips Slip Lower
Stocks in the U.S. fell, but they mostly shook off a global selloff sparked by worries over Federal Reserve action and weak growth in China.</br></br>The Dow edged down 12.67 points, or 0.1%, to 15294.50. The blue chips fell sharply immediately after the opening bell, but they drifted into positive territory for much of the afternoon. Hewlett-Packard led the nine gainers in the 30-stock average, rallying 17% after reporting core profits that beat Wall Street expectations after Wednesday's close.</br></br>The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index shed 4.84 points, or 0.3%, to 1650.51, and the Nasdaq Composite Index edged 3.88 points lower, or 0.1%, to 3459.42.</br></br>Global stock markets dove Thursday, following a whipsaw Wednesday session in the U.S. sparked by conflicting messages from the Federal Reserve on when it might roll back bond purchases. But U.S. shares were ultimately insulated from the worst of the losses.</br></br>The S&P 500 dropped 1.1% over two days--its first string of declines since April 18--a fall overshadowed by Thursday's 7.3% selloff of Japanese stocks and 2.1% decline in European shares. The S&P has gained 3.3% this month.