Most U.S. Stocks Fall as Energy Companies Slump With Oil Prices

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U.S. stocks fell, after a monthly advance sent benchmark indexes to records, as energy companies dropped with the price of oil after Saudi Arabia said it will cut prices of crude sent to the U.S.

The Standard & Poors 500 Index slipped less than 0.1 percent to 2,017.66 at 4 p.m. in New York as about five U.S. stocks fell for every four that rose. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 24.34 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,366.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.2 percent to the highest level since March 2000. Trading in S&P 500 companies was 13 percent below the 30-day average for this time of the day.

The S&P 500 has rebounded more than 8 percent from a six-month low on Oct. 15, fueled by better-than-forecast economic growth and improving earnings reports. The gain has pushed the index to trade at 16.8 times the members projected profit, near its highest multiple since 2009.

Both the S&P 500 and the Dow closed at all-time highs last week amid optimism the Bank of Japans stimulus will fill some of the gap left by the end of Federal Reserve bond buying.

Source : Bloomberg