NEW YORK, New York - Industrial stocks recovered a little ground on Thursday after substantial falls a day earlier, while technology stocks sagged.

The euro fell sharply as concerns over the European economy lingered. Interest rates fell as treasuries continued to be sold off. Positive retail data howlped helped moderate the sell-off,

"You've an environment where we're digesting the move down in interest rates and the yield curve yesterday," Darrell Cronk, chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Wealth and Investment Management in New York told the Reujters Thomson news agency. "Volume is lighter today. You're not getting outsized movements one way or the other."

"One thing the market took solace in today is better U.S. economic data," Cronk added. "That helped to calm some of the fears from yesterday."

Continuing fears over the U.S.-China trade dispute kept investors wary. China hit back Thursday saying it would retaliate to the latest round of tariffs being imposed by the U.S., about half of which will apply from 1 September. China made an effort Thursday to get the U.S. to meet it half-way in resolving the dispute, however U.S. President Donald Trump, when asked about this said "any deal must be on our terms."

At the close of trading Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead 99.97 points, or 0.39%, at 25,579.39.

The Standard and Poor's 500 added 7 points, or 0.25%, to 2,847.60.

The Nasdaq Composite declined 7.32 points, or 0.09%, to 7,766.62.

The euro sank to 1.1109 on Thursday. The British pound edged higher to 1.2087.

The Japanese yen was little changed at 106.11, while the Swiss franc eased to 0.9766.

The Canadian dollar slipped to 1.3315. The Australian dollar inched up to 0.6776. The New Zealand dollar was unmoved at 0.6656.

In London, the FTSE 100 dropped 1.13%. The German Dax was weaker, losing 0.70%, while in Paris, the CAC 40 slid 0.27%.

Australian stock markets shattered on Thursday, extending losses on Wall Street and European exchanges overnight.

Japanese stocks fell, however in China there were small advances registered.

The biggest carnage was on the Australian All Ordinaries which fell 186.70 points or 2.80% to 6,490.80.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan gave up 249.48 points or 1.21% to 20,405.65.

In China, the Shanghai Composite gained 6.88 points or 0.25% to 2,815.80.