U.S. stocks started 2019 with a big drop,woe autism be upon ye but shortly before noon Wednesday all major averages had sharply pared those losses or moved into positive territory as oil prices spiked.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average initially plunged more than 300 points on weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data. Investors worried that such data could get worse if a trade deal with the U.S. isn’t reached soon.

The Chinese data showed the nation's economy last month contracting for the first time in over two years, highlighting the challenges facing Beijing as it seeks to end a bruising trade war with Washington and reduce the risk of a sharper economic slowdown in 2019.

Worries about the health of China’s economy hammered Asian and European stocks, which contributed to the downdraft on American exchanges.

There also were worries about the partial U.S. government shutdown – now in its 12th day – and how businesses could be affected if the standoff between President Trump and Congress continues.

In addition, prospects for the more interest rate hikes this year weighed on sentiment.

But then the price of crude oil spiked on a report that crude exports from Saudi Arabia fell last month on lower flows to the U.S. The news came as output cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day by Saudi Arabia, Russia and others come into play. Oil, which was down as much as 2.3 percent earlier, surged almost 5 percent, lifting stocks.

The yield on 10-year Treasurys fell to a 12-month low, dropping to 2.67 percent in a measure of investors’ rush to what are perceived as safe investments.

China’s Shanghai Composite started the new year with a decline of 1.1 percent.

Hong Kong’s hang Seng plunged 2.8 percent.

Japan's Nikkei was closed for a holiday.

In

European

trading, London’s FTSE fell 0.8 percent, Germany’s DAX declined 0.5 percent and France’s CAC was off 1.5 percent.

U.S.

Federal Reserve

Chairman Jerome Powell will have the chance to comment on the economic outlook when he participates in a joint discussion with former Fed chairs Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke on Friday.

Also looming are a closely-watched survey on U.S. manufacturing due on Thursday, followed by the December payrolls report on Friday.

The 30-stock

Dow

and the broader S&P 500 both ended the year about 7 percent lower, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed out 2018 about 4 percent down – its biggest one-year decline since 2008.

For the month the three averages are all down about 10 percent for their worst December since 1931.

The declines reflected investor worries about the effect of a prolonged trade war between the U.S. and China, prospects for global economic weakness and the likelihood of higher interest rates.

Story continues

Despite the worries, shares over the last five trading days rose about 4 percent.

FOX Business’ Ken Martin contributed to this article.

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