A wild ride on Wall Street

Mixed signals on trade policy sent U.S. and foreign markets zigzagging.

Global stock markets swung wildly again Wednesday as investors chased after mixed signals on global trade tensions, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index erased an early-morning jump, dropping to its lowest close in nearly a month.

One of the day’s few market certainties was oil’s continued rise, and benchmark U.S. crude hit its highest price since 2014. That helped lift energy stocks, but other areas of the market zigged, zagged and zigged again.

Early on, Asian stocks slumped on concerns about the talk on trade that has been raging between the United States and its partners. European stocks later flipped from losses to gains on hopes that a move by the Trump administration indicated a less-combative stance with China. U.S. stocks opened higher, but the gains evaporated after a White House advisor said the move wasn’t necessarily a signal of a softer stance.

By day’s end, the S&P 500 had slid 23.43 points, or 0.9%, to 2,699.63. Earlier in the day it was up as much as 0.8%.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 165.52 points, or 0.7%, to 24,117.59. The Nasdaq composite sank 116.54 points, or 1.5%, to 7,445.08. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks slid 28.07 points, or 1.7%, to 1,640.45.

Stocks have swung in recent weeks, even by the hour, on worries about global trade. Investors were feeling less nervous about it in the morning after the Trump administration indicated it was shifting away from a plan to impose limits on Chinese investment in U.S. technology firms and on high-tech exports to China. Instead, the administration is calling on Congress to enhance a review process.

Markets took it as a sign of a less antagonistic stance, but the gains disappeared after Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, told Fox Business that the stance should not necessarily be seen as softer.

Trade tensions are only adding to pressures on the market. The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates, but more important to Barry Bannister, head of institutional equity strategy at Stifel, interest rates — after accounting for the effects of inflation — are set to cross key thresholds. That is putting pressure on stock prices, and he said this bull market that began in 2009 may end by early 2020.

Chinese stocks have already fallen into a bear market. The Shanghai composite index sank 1.1% on Wednesday, and it’s down more than 20% from a lateJanuary high. Other Asian markets also fell Wednesday. European stocks rose.

In the U.S. market, Conagra Brands dropped 7.3% to $35.45 — the biggest loss in the S&P 500 — after it agreed to buy Pinnacle Foods, the company behind Duncan Hines and HungryMan, in a deal that would create a frozen-food giant.

World Wrestling Entertainment climbed 6.3% to $70.85 after announcing fiveyear distribution agreements with USA Network and Fox Sports for its Raw and SmackDown programs.

The strongest area of the market was the energy sector. Crude prices jumped after a report showed that U.S. oil inventories dropped more sharply last week. The prices already had been rising on reports that the Trump administration is pressing other countries to stop importing oil from Iran.

Crude’s rise helped drive energy stocks in the S&P 500 up 1.3%, more than double the gain any of the index’s other 10 sectors achieved.

Concho Resources, which looks for oil and gas in New Mexico and Texas, jumped 4.6% to $137.78, the biggest gain in the S&P 500.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose $2.23 to $72.76 a barrel. Brent crude rose $1.31 to $77.62 a barrel. Natural gas rose 6 cents to $2.30 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating oil rose 5 cents to $2.17 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline rose 6 cents to $2.13 a gallon.

Gold fell $3.80 to $1,256.10 an ounce. Silver fell 10 cents to $16.15 an ounce. Copper fell a penny to $3.01 a pound.

The dollar rose to 110.20 yen from 110.13 yen. The euro fell to $1.1557 from $1.1650.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 2.82% from 2.88%.