Falling energy prices pushed the stock market back from record levels on Tuesday.
Energy stocks declined as the price of oil resumed its descent. Traders speculated that member nations of the oil-producing group OPEC wouldn't agree on production cuts at a meeting in Vienna on Thursday. Oil has dropped almost a third from a peak in June.
"Energy prices fell on a report that OPEC wouldn't agree to cut oil production from the current level of about 31 million barrels a day," Rob Williams, deputy editor of MoneyNews.com, said on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax.TV. "The report said OPEC members would only maintain existing quotas."
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While lower oil prices are a long-term boon to consumers and industrial companies, they are a drag on stocks in the near term because energy companies account for about 10 percent of the overall market's profits.
Despite the losses, the major indexes remain close to all-time highs.
Stocks have been drifting gradually higher this month, having rebounded sharply from a slump in October, as investors have grown more confident that actions from central banks around the world will help bolster the global economy. The gains are likely to continue for now, said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust.
"People's sentiment is still pretty conservative," McDonald said. "That means that the slow-and-steady market can continue longer than people anticipate."
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2.38 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,067.03. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 2.96 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 17,814.94. The Nasdaq composite gained 3.36 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,758.25.
Stocks started the day with small gains after a report showed that the U.S. economy grew at a solid 3.9 percent annual rate in the July-September period, faster than the 3.5 percent that was initially reported. The upward revision was due to higher estimates of spending by consumers and businesses, the Commerce Department said.
That positive report was tempered by news that U.S. consumer confidence fell in November. The Conference Board says its consumer confidence index fell to 88.7, down from a seven-year high of 94.5 in October. The decline primarily reflected less optimism in the short-term outlook as consumers expressed less confidence in current business conditions.
Among individual stocks, Pall, a company that makes filters for the food and health care industries, was the leading gainer in the S&P 500. The company's stock jumped $3.31, or 3.5 percent, to $98 after its earnings beat the expectations of Wall Street analysts.
Energy stocks slid along with oil prices following reports that the world's biggest producers are unwilling to cut production to help stop a slump in the price of crude. The sector dropped 1.6 percent and is now down 3.2 percent for the year. It's the only one of the 10 industry sectors in the S&P 500 that is down for the year.
Representatives from Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Russian state oil giant OAO Rosneft met Tuesday ahead of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna and didn't announce any immediate plans to cut output, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.69 to close at $74.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell $1.35 to close at $78.33 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In metals trading, the price of gold rose $1.40 to $1,197.10 an ounce. Silver rose 18 cents to $16.55 an ounce and copper fell four cents to $2.96 a pound.
U.S. government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.26 percent from 2.31 percent Monday. The dollar fell to 117.94 yen from 118.28 yen late Monday. The euro rose to $1.2472.
In other energy futures trading on the NYMEX:
Wholesale gasoline fell 0.1 cent to close at $2.032 a gallon
Heating oil fell 0.1 cent to close at $2.395 a gallon.
Natural gas rose 13.1 cents to close at $4.282 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Follow Rob Williams on Twitter: @robwilliamsTV
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