NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are wavering at midday Tuesday after domestic and international concerns led to an early slump. The price of oil jumped as traders worried that Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter plane could lead to worsening tensions in the Middle East.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average was little changed 17,789 as of 12:10 p.m. Eastern time. The index was down more than 100 points earlier. The Standard & Poor’s 500 dipped two points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,084. The Nasdaq composite fell 15 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,087.
INSTABILITY: Turkey said a Russian warplane it shot down had violated Turkish airspace and ignored repeated warnings. Russia denied the plane crossed Syria’s border into Turkey. NATO, of which Turkey is a member, will hold an emergency meeting later.
WORRIED CONSUMERS: Consumer confidence plunged in November as Americans became more worried about the state of the job market. The Conference Board says its confidence index fell to 90.4, a big drop from October and far lower than analysts expected. That came in spite of a big rebound in hiring in October, which suggested the economy will keep growing.
Consumer discretionary stocks slipped following the report. Netflix lost $1.46, or 1.2 percent, to $123.57. E-commerce giant Amazon also traded lower.
THE QUOTE: Jeremy Zirin, chief equity strategist at UBS Wealth Management Research, said the confidence report was a surprise because there are a lot of reasons for consumers to feel good right now. Employers are hiring, and Americans have more money to spend because inflation and gas prices are low. There’s also evidence wages are increasing.
“It’s hard to explain,” he said. Zirin said he thinks consumer confidence will improve in December.
ENERGIZED: U.S. crude climbed $1.42, or 3.4 percent, to $43.17 a barrel in New York. Last week U.S. oil fell to its lowest price in about three months. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, added $1.53, or 3.4 percent, to $46.36.
OIL EFFECTS: Energy stocks rose. Marathon Oil surged $1.09, or 6.2 percent, to $18.62 and Murphy Oil advanced $1.52, or 5.3 percent, to $30.01.
STAYCATIONS: The reports were a one-two punch for travel stocks. An increase in oil prices would leave people with less money to spend on travel and the drop in consumer confidence suggests people might not feel comfortable spending money on big vacations. It would also reduce profits for travel providers.
Travel booking site Priceline sank $51.02, or 4 percent, to $1,213.30 and competitor Expedia shed $4.28, or 3.4 percent, to $120.64.
United lost $1.83, or 3.1 percent, to $56.73 and Southwest dropped $1.28, or 2.7 percent, to $46.19.
Cruise lines also fell. Royal Caribbean lost $3.30, or 3.5 percent, to $91.63 and Carnival gave up $1.28, or 2.5 percent, to $50.11.
EARNINGS: Quarterly reports continued to roll in. Discount retailer Dollar Tree rose despite mixed third-quarter results. Its sales were stronger than expected, and the stock gained $4.09, or 5.9 percent, to $73.64.
Jewelry company Signet, the owner of brands including Kay Jewelers, Jared and Zale, reported lower than expected profit and revenue. Its stock dropped $5.10, or 3.6 percent, to $135.55. Dental products maker Patterson fell $3.37, or 6.9 percent, to $45.26.
Food makers Campbell Soup and Hormel both rose after releasing their results. Campbell Soup shares picked up $1.45, or 2.9 percent, to $51.24 and Hormel added $1.23, or 1.8 percent, to $70.59.
CURRENCIES AND BONDS: The euro inched up to $1.0657 from $1.0625. The dollar fell to 122.41 yen from 122.85 yen. Bond prices didn’t move much. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 2.24 percent.
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Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/marley-jay.
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