A late fade leaves US stock market indexes slightly lower at the close; oil price gains

NEW YORK – An early gain for U.S. stocks fizzled in late afternoon trading, leaving indexes slightly lower at the closing bell.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged down five points, less than 0.1 percent, at 17,875 Tuesday. The Dow had been up as much as 102 points earlier.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell four points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,076. The Nasdaq composite lost seven points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,910.

Viacom fell 2 percent after the entertainment company announced layoffs and a big charge to earnings as part of a restructuring effort.

The price of oil rose 3.5 percent to $53.98 a barrel in New York.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.89 percent.