US stocks change little as oil prices rise

Wall Street’s fixation with oil prices left stocks little changed today, although investors managed to react stoically to the government’s report of a drop in crude inventories.

Oil futures traded above 59dollars a barrel after the US Department of Energy released data showing inventories of crude fell 1.58 million barrels for the week. The drop, while lower than expected, initially rattled traders and sent stocks sliding; however, they soon recovered most of their lost ground.