Markets mixed as US stocks rebound after losses elsewhere

Markets were mixed on Thursday.

Early in the day in Asia, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.4 percent but the Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.9 percent and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3 percent after a report showed that China's economy grew 6.8 percent in the third quarter, down from 6.9 percent in the second quarter.

The STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.6 percent as the China data combined with an escalation of political tension in Spain and disappointing corporate results to drag stocks down.

However, the S&P 500 managed to rebound from early declines to finish flat.

“While there is no question that markets are overvalued and we could see some corrections, the path of least resistance for stocks is still to go higher,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank.