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New York • U.S. stocks edged higher in afternoon trading Wednesday following two days of losses. Worries over the timing of a U.S. interest rate increase and economic weakness in China kept trading subdued. Oil companies fell while Apple surged.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 53 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,067 as of 12:21 p.m. Mountain time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose five points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,993. The Nasdaq composite was up 27 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,579.

DOUGHNUT DOLDRUMS: Krispy Kreme Doughnuts fell 88 cents, or 5 percent, to $16.73 after its second-quarter earnings that fell short of expectations. The company is down 13 percent since the start of the year.

SECURITY STOCK SURGE: Palo Alto Networks rose $10.14, or 10 percent, to $99.42 after the security-software maker forecast healthier revenue in its first quarter.

APPLE A DAY: A day after Apple announced a new smartwatch, a bigger iPhone and a new mobile-payment system, it stock rose $2.29, or 2.4 percent, to $100.29.

EBay fell $1.50, or 3 percent, to $51.23 over fears its PayPal division will lose business to Apple's payment system. But GPS device maker Garmin reversed big losses from Tuesday with a gain of 4 percent, the biggest rise in the S&P 500, as investors seemed to dismiss the threat from the Apple's smartwatch. Garmin rose $1.95 to $53.69.

THE FED: Investors are questioning whether the U.S. Federal Reserve might raise its benchmark interest rate earlier than many had expected as the economy gains strength. In a paper this week, two San Francisco Fed economists said the public appears to expect a "more accommodative" policy, meaning low rates for longer, than do Fed board members. Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities, says he expects the consensus for the first rate increase will soon shift to early next year, rather than over the summer.

Investors will be watching a report on unemployment claims out Thursday and one on retail sales Friday for a better read on the economy. The Fed meets next week to discuss possible changes to its monetary policy.

THE QUOTE: "The market is betting that the Fed won't be overly accommodative," says Mizuho's Ricchiuto. "The worst things for stocks would be the Fed to raise rates sooner rather than later."

CHINA'S STRUGGLE: Investors are keeping an eye on China amid signs of slumping economic growth there. Manufacturing growth slowed in August and imports unexpectedly shrank by 2.4 percent.

ENERGY LOSES STEAM: Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell $1.15, or 1 percent, to $91.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That pulled several big energy stocks lower. With China slowing and the eurozone possibly slipping into a third recession since the financial crisis, demand for oil remains weak while supply is ample. Chevron fell $1.87, or 1.5 percent, to $123.31.

BONDS, METALS: The price of the 10-year Treasury note fell. The yield rose to 2.53 percent from 2.50 percent on Tuesday. In metals trading, the price of gold fell $3.20 to $1,245.30 an ounce. Silver was flat at $18.93 an ounce and copper edged up a penny to $3.11 a pound.