US stocks nearly flat after listless session

Wall Street ended a listless session with stocks nearly flat today as rising oil prices and inflation fears – and a dose of indecision – kept most investors on the sidelines.

A new batch of data showed that the economy’s rapid growth might be cooling a little, giving a few risk-tolerant investors an impetus to return to buying. But with oil prices still trading at near-record highs, many investors were dogged by concerns over how quickly and how high the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates to combat inflation.