NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks are mostly lower in early trading on Wall Street as energy and mining companies slide along with the prices of oil and other commodities.
Offshore driller Transocean sank 7 percent Tuesday and mining company Freeport-McMoRan lost 4 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average gave up 27 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,507 as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped less than a point to 2,036.
Technology stocks rose. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite edged up 25 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4,792.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 3 percent to $38 a barrel in New York. The price of copper fell 2 percent.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.85 percent.