The Dow Jones industrial average slipped nine points to 16,318 as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down a fraction at 1,941 and the Nasdaq composite was little changed at 4,755.
The price of oil edged up to $46.54 a barrel in New York. It had plunged 2 percent the day before.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.16 percent.
