NEW YORK (AP) — Most US stock indexes sagged Thursday morning as the price of oil slumped for a second day and pulled down energy stocks. Crude is falling on reports that supplies remain abundant.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped six points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,092 as of 9:57 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 78 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,951. The Nasdaq bucked the trend and rose six points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,913.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell $2.71 to $50.11 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell $2.36 to $58.17 a barrel.
EARNINGS IMPACT: EOG Resources, a Houston-based oil and gas company, reported results late Wednesday that illustrated the impact of the seven-month slump in oil. Its earnings fell short of analysts' expectations, and its stock slumped $5.15, or 5.4 percent, to $90.21, the biggest drop in the S&P 500.
THE NEGOTIATOR: Priceline was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500. The stock jumped $82, or 7.3 percent, to $1,205 as an increase in bookings helped the online travel company beat analysts' expectations.
GREECE SENDS REQUEST: Greece's government asked to extend its rescue loan agreement by six months in order to give it and the eurozone more time to hash out a longer permanent deal. However, Greece held back on offering to extend a series of budget cuts and reforms that the eurozone has required since 2010 in exchange for loans. Greece says that the measures have devastated its economy. The 19 finance ministers of the eurozone will meet Friday to discuss the proposals.
EUROPE'S DAY: The main stock market in Athens rose 0.7 percent, Germany's DAX was flat. The CAC-40 in France was 0.6 percent higher, while the FTSE 100 index of leading British share dropped 0.1 percent.
BONDS AND CURRENCIES: In government bond trading, prices were little changed. The yield on the 10-year government held at 2.08 percent from Tuesday.
The U.S. dollar rose against the Japanese yen, climbing to 119.03 yen on Wednesday. The dollar edged up against the euro, to $1.1380 from $1.1399.