US blue chips rose slightly on Monday as oil prices slipped and alleviated worry about high energy costs cutting into corporate profits, but a 5 percent slide in Symantec Corp weighed on the Nasdaq. Symantec shares continued to fall after its agreement to buy Veritas Software Corp last week. The stock has fallen about 27 percent since the deal was first reported. Symantec shares were off $1.33 at $24.04, while Veritas was down $1.30, or almost 5 percent, at $26.45.
The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average was bolstered by gains in Honeywell International Inc and Caterpillar Inc, which are both heavy users of energy. Honeywell shares rose almost 1 percent or 27 cents to $35.63, while Caterpillar was up 11 cents at $94.35.
The Dow was up 11.68 points, or 0.11 percent, to close at 10,661.60 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.46 of a point, or 0.04 percent, to finish at 1,194.66. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 7.35 points, or 0.34 percent, to end at 2,127.85.
"As we move to the end of the year, people are holding their breath and will try to preserve whatever gains they can," said Jim Fehrenbach, head of Nasdaq trading at Piper Jaffray. "We're really not running into much selling, but the Santa rally has come and gone."
Trading was active, with 1.4 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, matching the 1.4 billion daily average for last year. About 1.99 billion shares were traded on Nasdaq, above the 1.69 billion daily average last year.
On the NYSE, the number of stocks advancing was about equal to those on the decline. On Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancers by a ratio of about 2-to-1.
Earlier, US crude futures fell more than $1 on Monday as the first bout of bitter cold weather in the US Northeast was forecast to be short-lived.
Crude for January delivery ended 64 cents lower at $45.64 a barrel, despite concerns about supplies from the Middle East after Muslim militants renewed threats to attack oil facilities.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Saturday it still expects a 1 percent to 3 percent increase in December sales at its US stores open at least a year as sales of general merchandise and winter items improved in the latest week.
Wal-Mart shares ticked higher, rising 18 cents to $52.20 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Saturday before Christmas typically marks the busiest shopping day of the season. Holiday sales are critical because they can account for as much as one-quarter of a retailer's annual sales. Sales have been tepid so far.
"No one's feeling great about retail and I think people are beginning to look to 2005, and if there is an emerging sentiment - it's sceptical about the strength of the consumer in 2005, particularly in the absence of much more stimulus from Washington and higher energy prices," said Zachary Karabell, senior economic analyst, at Fred Alger Management, Inc.
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