NEW YORK (AP) – Wall Street fluctuated Wednesday as investors, shaking off a plunge in China’s stock market, placed bets ahead of the afternoon release of minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting.

Investors were hoping that the Fed minutes would indicate that policy makers were beginning to lean toward a rate cut by the end of the year.

The market began the day shakily, declining after stocks fell around the globe in response to the tumble on China’s markets. When Beijing tripled a tax on stock trading to cool the country’s market boom, the main Shanghai Composite Index dropped 6.5 percent and the Shenzhen Composite Index for China’s smaller second market slid 7.2 percent.

Analysts weren’t surprised by the pullback, believing stocks were overdue for a consolidation after a strong run since the second half of 2006. And the drop in Asian and European markets did not appear as dramatic as on Feb. 27, when investors around the world recoiled at a 9 percent slide in the Shanghai index.

“The market really showed its resilience in coming back from the China drop, and didn’t get taken this time around,” said Ryan Larson, senior equity trader at Voyageur Asset Management. “I think you’ll see the market continue to trade sideways until we get some underlying data. I don’t think we’ll get much out of the Fed, maybe a slight word change.”

At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 3.17, or 0.02 percent, at 13,518.17, after falling about 60 points after the open but also making it back to positive territory in late morning.

Broader stock indicators were narrowly mixed. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.28, or 0.02 percent, to 1,518.39, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 2.46, or 0.10 percent, to 2,569.60.

Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.86 percent from 4.88 percent late Tuesday. Fixed-income investors bought into the market hoping central bankers will indicate they are not ruling out a rate cut this year to stimulate the economy’s growth.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell. Crude oil rose 28 cents to $63.43 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

When Beijing tripled a tax on stock trading to cool the country’s market boom, the main Shanghai Composite Index dropped 6.5 percent and the Shenzhen Composite Index for China’s smaller second market slid 7.2 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.48 percent; Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.41 percent; Germany’s DAX index dropped 0.61 percent, and France’s CAC-40 declined 0.52 percent.

Investors have been jittery since comments last week from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who said the Chinese markets could experience a significant pullback.

In corporate news, Pulte Homes Inc. said late Tuesday it will slash about 16 percent of its work force, or about 1,900 jobs, to save the homebuilder an estimated $200 million a year before taxes. Shares of the company fell 13 cents to $27.32.

Bookseller Borders Group Inc. fell 81 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $22.51 after it reported late Tuesday a wider loss in the first quarter than in the year-ago period, citing a difficult sales climate.

IBM Corp. rose 47 cents to $106.38 after it laid off 1,570 people, primarily from an ongoing overhaul of operations in its giant technology services unit. The company carried out a similar level of job cuts at the beginning of the month, for a total of 3,023 in this quarter and 3,720 for the year, according to IBM spokesman Edward Barbini.

And the takeover trend continued.

Late Tuesday, hardware, software and technology accessory distributor CDW Corp. confirmed that it will be bought by a private equity company for $7.3 billion. Shares of the company rose $2.28, or 2.7 percent, to $85.39.

ESpeed Inc., a publicly owned electronic trading house controlled by Cantor Fitzgerald, said it is buying BGC Partners, the New York bond-trading firm’s privately held brokerage unit, in a $1.3 billion deal. Shares of eSpeed rose 17 cents to $9.36.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 73 cents, or 0.09 percent, at 836.80.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 542.3 million shares.

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