Grappling With an Old Enemy

While value-conscious investors were able to put bloody scenes of London out of their heads by the market's close, the long-term impact on an already fragile world economy of Thursday's terror attacks remains an open question.

Like other major stock proxies, the Dow Jones Industrial Average swooned at the open, losing nearly 100 points as money flowed into safe-haven assets like Treasuries, gold and the Swiss franc. The 10-year Treasury added more than a point before stocks opened in New York, while oil plunged on worries about tourism.

Yet the major indices managed to scrape back into positive territory as bonds' gains faded. The Dow finished up 20.74 points, or 0.2%, to 10,291.42. The S&P 500, which traded as low as 1167 before the market's open, finished at 1196.83, up 1.89 points, or 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 5.96 points, or 0.29%, to 2074.61. ...