Markets Recover From Midday Slump, Edge Upward Toward Close

UPDATED at 2:25 p.m.

Wall Street has recovered from a midday slump and is less than two hours from closing back on the positive side, meandering around on a day without market-moving news.

After a mildly positive opening, the three major indexes on Wall Street rose steadily until about 11 a.m., then turned downward, crossing into negative territory after lunch.

Now, as of 2:25 p.m., the Dow and the broader S&P 500 are both up about 0.2 percent.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq is up about half that. All on light volume.

10 a.m.: Wall Street opened the week with a mild positive opening, riding the rally that traveled from Asia to Europe last night.

In the first half-hour of trading, the Dow is up half a percent and the broader S&P 500 is up 0.6 percent.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq is up less, about 0.4 percent.

Today is a pretty light day for scheduled economic news; no market-moving data are due out.

In economic news, Reader's Digest filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as we wrote about last week.

And Irish drugmaker Warner Chilcot has purchased Procter & Gamble's prescription drug business for $3.1 billion, sending shares of P&G up slightly.

-- Frank Ahrens