Global Stocks

European stocks finished lower Wednesday, with mining shares among the biggest laggards after lackluster Chinese manufacturing data underscored worries about the health of the world's second-largest economy.

The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.96% fell 1% to end at 344.12.

U.S. stocks eked out a gain Wednesday as investors focused on the positive aspects of the latest batch of data that showed the U.S. economy plodding along.

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book, a collection of anecdotes about the economy, indicated that most districts were seeing only moderate performance and that consumer spending and employment posted mostly modest growth.

The S&P 500 SPX, +0.11% edged up 2.37 points, or 0.1%, to close at 2,099.33, as seven of its 10 main sectors were trading in the green. Consumer-staples stocks, up 0.7%, topped gainers for the large-cap index, while a 1% decline in telecommunications shares weighed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.01% recovered from a more than 120-point drop to end 2.47 points higher, or less than 0.1%, at 17,789.67.

Asian stocks eased on Thursday after surveys showed global manufacturing activity and demand remain weak, while a jump in the yen sent Japan's Nikkei reeling more than 2 percent.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan struggled to keep its head above water after rising more than 3 percent over the last seven days.