U.S. stocks rebound mildly after sharp decline

U.S. stocks traded higher around midday Tuesday following the previous day's plunge, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned of slower economic growth for commodity exporters over the 2015-2017 period.

By noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 11.13 points, or 0.07 percent, to 16,013.02. The S&P 500 gained 4.52 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,886.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 11.81 points, or 0.26 percent, to 4,555.78.

In an analytical chapter of the IMF's flagship World Economic Outlook report, which is to be published next week in Peru, IMF economists found that the weak commodity price outlook could subtract almost 1 percentage point annually from the growth rate of commodity exporters over the 2015-2017 period as compared with the 2012-2014 period.

According to the research, analysts generally agreed that commodity prices will likely remain low, given ample supplies and weak prospects for global economic growth, and the commodity futures prices suggest future spot prices for commodities will remain low or rebound only moderately over the next five years.

Commodities, however, recovered modestly in the morning trading on Tuesday. Some analysts said the turmoil in commodities dominated the market sentiment recently, which caused a heavy sell-off in commodity stocks.

On the U.S. economic front, the Consumer Confidence Index stands at 103.0 for September, well above market consensus of 96.0, according to the New York-based research group Conference Board.

The S&P/Case-Shiller's 20-City Index decreased 0.2 percent month-over-month in July, missing market expectations of a 0.1-percent gain.

On Monday, U.S. stocks suffered big losses as uncertainties about the timing of U.S. interest rate hikes weighed on Wall Street sentiment. Endit