Stock market today: Wall Street holds firmer after Hong Kong stocks fall to worst day since 2008

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are steadying themselves on Tuesday as falling oil prices release some of the pressure that’s built up on the market.

The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher in morning trading and clawing back some of its losses from the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 30 points, or 0.1%, and likewise nearing its record set last week, while the Nasdaq composite was 1% higher, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time.

Wall Street held firm even though stock markets around the world sank following scary swings in China, as euphoria about possible stimulus for the world’s second-largest economy gave way to disappointment. Stocks tumbled 9.4% in Hong Kong for their worst day since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Helping to support Wall Street was a drawdown in oil prices. They gave back some of the big recent gains they made on worries that worsening tensions in the Middle East could ultimately lead to disruptions in the flow of oil.

A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.5% to $78.12. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude, meanwhile, eased 3.7% to $74.28.

Pressure coming from the bond market on the stock market also leveled off a bit. Treasury yields were holding steadier, a day after they shot to their highest levels since the summer.

The 10-year Treasury yield edged up to 4.05% from 4.03% late Monday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do with overnight interest rates, was holding at 3.99%, where it was late Monday. It’s still near its highest level since August.

When Treasurys are paying higher yields, investors generally become less willing to pay very high prices for stocks and other investments. And Treasury yields have been storming higher over the last week following a suite of reports showing the U.S. economy may be healthier than expected.

Such reports, including one last week showing much stronger hiring by U.S. employers than forecast, raise hopes that the economy will avoid a recession. But they also force traders to ratchet back expectations for how much the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by, now that it has widened its focus to include keeping the economy humming instead of just fighting high inflation.

Traders have abandoned expectations for the Fed to cut its main interest rate by a larger-than-usual half of a percentage point at its next meeting, for example. Instead, they’re largely betting on a traditional-sized cut of a quarter of a percentage point, according to data from CME Group. Some are even betting on a small possibility the Fed could keep its main rate steady in November.

On Wall Street, PepsiCo was 0.6% higher after after it delivered stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its revenue fell short.

CEO Ramon Laguarta also said the company now expects a “low single-digit” increase in an important measure of revenue for the year after it had earlier forecast growth of about 4%. U.S. consumers continue to pull back on buying snacks and drinks after years of price increases.

DocuSign jumped 8.3% after S&P Dow Jones Indices said the electronic document signing company would join its S&P MidCap 400 index. DocuSign will replace MDU Resources, which will be bumped down to the S&P SmallCap 600 after announcing last week that it was spinning off its construction services subsidiary, Everus Construction Group.

On the losing end of Wall Street were oil-and-gas companies, which gave back some of their big recent gains driven by the jump in crude prices. Chevron fell 1.9% and was one of the bigger reasons the Dow was lagging other indexes.

In stock markets abroad, trading in mainland China reopened following a national holiday. Before, indexes in Shanghai and Shenzhen had surged on hopes for stimulus from the government and the central bank meant to prop up the economy’s flagging growth.

On Tuesday, China’s economic planning agency outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but it refrained from major spending initiatives. That helped lead to the 9.4% drop for the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong.

In Shanghai, where the market had been closed as Hong Kong ran higher ove the last week, stocks rose 4.6% following their reopening.

The disappointment in China had worldwide effects, knocking down stocks of companies in Europe, the United States and elsewhere that do lots of business in and around China. Estee Lauder fell 4.4%, for example, while Wynn Resorts lost 4%.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott, Elaine Kurtenbach and Zen Soo contributed.

The New York Stock Exchange, rear, is shown on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

FILE - Signs mark the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street in the Financial District on Oct. 2, 2024, in New York. Trinity Church is in the background. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is shown on Sept. 24, 2024., 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

Currency traders pass by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), center left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader passes by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

NEW YORK (AP) — More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia have filed lawsuits against TikTok on Tuesday, alleging the popular short-form video app is harming youth mental health by designing its platform to be addictive to kids.

The lawsuits stem from a national investigation into TikTok, which was launched in March 2022 by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from many states, including California, Kentucky and New Jersey. All of the complaints were filed in state courts.

At the heart of each lawsuit is the TikTok algorithm, which powers what users see on the platform by populating the app’s main “For You” feed with content tailored to people’s interests. The lawsuits also emphasize design features that they say make children addicted to the platform, such as the ability to scroll endlessly through content, push notifications that come with built-in “buzzes” and face filters that create unattainable appearances for users.

In its filings, the District of Columbia called the algorithm “dopamine-inducing,” and said it was created to be intentionally addictive so the company could trap many young users into excessive use and keep them on its app for hours on end. TikTok does this despite knowing that these behaviors will lead to “profound psychological and physiological harms,” such as anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia and other long-lasting problems, the complaint said.

“It is profiting off the fact that it's addicting young people to its platform,” District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in an interview.

Keeping people on the platform is "how they generate massive ad revenue," Schwalb said. "But unfortunately, that's also how they generate adverse mental health impacts on the users.”

TikTok does not allow children under 13 to sign up for its main service and restricts some content for everyone under 18. But Washington and several other states said in their filing that children can easily bypass those restrictions, allowing them to access the service adults use despite the company's claims that its platform is safe for children.

Their lawsuit also takes aim at other parts of the company’s business.

The district alleges TikTok is operating as an “unlicensed virtual economy" by allowing people to purchase TikTok Coins – a virtual currency within the platform – and send “Gifts” to streamers on TikTok LIVE who can cash it out for real money. TikTok takes a 50% commission on these financial transactions but hasn’t registered as a money transmitter with the U.S. Treasury Department or authorities in the district, according to the complaint.

Officials say teens are frequently exploited for sexually explicit content through TikTok’s LIVE streaming feature, which has allowed the app to operate essentially as a “virtual strip club" without any age restrictions. They say the cut the company gets from the financial transactions allows it to profit from exploitation.

Many states have filed lawsuits against TikTok and other tech companies over the past few years as a reckoning grows against prominent social media platforms and their ever-growing impact on young people’s lives. In some cases, the challenges have been coordinated in a way that resembles how states previously organized against the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries.

Last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued TikTok, alleging the company was sharing and selling minors' personal information in violation of a new state law that prohibits these practices. TikTok, which disputes the allegations, is also fighting against a similar data-oriented federal lawsuit filed in August by the Department of Justice.

Several Republican-led states, such as Nebraska, Kansas, New Hampshire, Kansas, Iowa and Arkansas, have also previously sued the company, some unsuccessfully, over allegations it is harming children's mental health, exposing them to “inappropriate” content or allowing young people to be sexually exploited on its platform. Arkansas has brought a legal challenge against YouTube, as well as Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram and is being sued by dozens of states over allegations its harming young people's mental health. New York City and some public school districts have also brought their own lawsuits.

TikTok, in particular, is facing other challenges at the national level. Under a federal law that took effect earlier this year, TikTok could be banned from the U.S. by mid-January if its China-based parent company ByteDance doesn't sell the platform by mid-January.

Both TikTok and ByteDance are challenging the law at an appeals court in Washington. A panel of three judges heard oral arguments in the case last month and are expected to issue a ruling, which could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

FILE - The TikTok logo is seen on their building in Culver City, Calif., March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)