An early gain fades, leaving stock indexes little changed

U.S. stocks ended with little change on Tuesday after a late-afternoon slump wiped out much of the market's gains from earlier in the day.

Investors weighed mixed results from Wal-Mart stores, Home Depot and other big U.S. retailers, as well as new data on inflation. Energy stocks were among the biggest decliners as oil prices closed lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 6.49 points, or 0.04 percent, to 17,489.50. Earlier, the average had been up more than 116 points.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 2.75 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,050.44. The index had briefly moved into positive territory for the year. The Nasdaq composite gained 1.40 points, or 0.03 percent, to 4,986.02.

Investors, who have been worried that sales could be weak this holiday shopping season, sold retailers that reported disappointing quarterly results. An exception to that was Wal-Mart Stores, whose stock rose 3.5 percent after the company reported improved customer traffic and an increase in a key sales figure for the third quarter, even as a stronger dollar pressured its performance overseas. The stock added $2.05 to $59.92.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil dropped $1.07 to close at $40.67 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 99 cents to close at $43.57 a barrel in London.

Wholesale gasoline was little changed at $1.238 a gallon, heating oil lost 1.7 cents to $1.368 a gallon and natural gas fell 1.4 cents to $2.371 per 1,000 cubic feet.

European indexes moved higher, thanks partly to a report showing that business optimism in Germany rose more than analysts had expected this month amid strong domestic demand and a weaker euro. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 2 percent.

Precious and industrial metals prices closed lower. Gold fell $15 to $1,068.60 an ounce, silver declined five cents to $14.17 an ounce and copper gave up one cent to close at $2.10 a pound.

U.S. government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.26 percent from 2.27 percent. The dollar rose to 123.41 yen from 123.26 yen, while the euro fell to $1.0644 from $1.0678.