Mixed Open for US Stocks

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks are wavering between small gains and losses in early trading on Wall Street Tuesday. Energy companies slumped as the price of crude oil turned lower after a four-day rally. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped after setting a record high close the day before.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 18 points, or 0.1 percent, to 19,199 as of 10 a.m. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down a fraction at 2,204. The Nasdaq composite edged up 10 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,319. Small-company stocks, which have been outpacing the rest of the market in recent weeks, also slipped.

ENERGY: A rally in oil prices petered out after four days of gains driven by OPEC's deal to cut production next year. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.20 to $50.59 in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, shed $1.04 to $53.89 a barrel in London. Among energy stocks, pipeline operator Kinder Morgan slumped 3 percent and Devon Energy fell 1.6 percent.

EUROPE: Italy's stock market jumped 2 percent, a day after slipping in the wake of the failure of a constitutional referendum that forced the resignation of that country's premier. France's CAC 40 added 0.6 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 was little changed and Germany's DAX edged up 0.3 percent.

ASIA: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.5 percent and South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.4 percent after the finance ministry said it would frontload nearly 70 percent of government spending for 2017. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.8 percent.

BONDS AND CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond prices rose slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.39 percent from 2.40 percent late Monday. In foreign exchange trading, the dollar rose to 113.89 yen from 113.75 yen. The euro fell to $1.0737 from $1.0770.

(KA)