Stocks Opened Lower amid Plunging Oil Prices

U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday amid rising angst over plunging oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately lost 50.51 points, or 0.29%, to 17,130.33. The S&P 500 was up 7.01 points, or 0.35%, to 1,982.62. The Nasdaq Composite fell 20.33 points, or 0.44%, to 4,584.83.

Construction of new homes fell slightly in November, reflecting weakness in construction of single-family homes.Builders started construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million homes and apartments last month, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

Oil fell below $59 a barrel for the first time since May 2009 on Tuesday. Brent crude fell as low as $58.50, its weakest since May 2009. As of 1221 GMT it was down $2.12 at $58.94 while U.S. crude (CLc1) was down $1.73 at $54.18 per barrel.

Repsol SA (REP) has reached an agreement to buy Canadian oil group Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM) in a deal worth $8.3 billion plus debt, the Spanish company said in an announcement Tuesday.