Energy and material stocks led gainers on the S&P 500 on Tuesday in a thinly traded session in which major indexes barely budged. On the back of stronger oil prices. the S&P energy sector rose 0.4 percent, while the S&P materials index gained 0.2 percent. Downbeat economic data kept the market in check.
Consumer confidence unexpectedly deteriorated in December, hurt by increasing worries about the labour market, while the price of US single-family homes fell almost double the expected pace in October. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 2.91 points, or 0.03 percent, at 11,557.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.68 points, or 0.05 percent, at 1,256.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 7.87 points, or 0.30 percent, at 2,659.40.
Trading volumes, already light over the holiday season, were expected to remain thin as the eastern United States dug out from a blizzard that stranded thousands of travellers at the end of the busy Christmas weekend. Anadarko Petroleum Corp gained 1 percent to $69.45 and Chesapeake Energy Corp rose 1.1 percent to $25.84. Chevron Corp added 1.1 percent to $91.09.
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