Stocks Closed Flat amid Oil Slide

U.S. stocks closed little changed on Tuesday as a rally in materials was offset by losses in the energy sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 12.67 points, or 0.08%, to 16,014.38. The S&P 500 was off 1.23 points, or 0.07%, to 1,852.21. The Nasdaq Composite was down 14.99 points, or 0.35%, to 4,268.76.

Oil futures declined on Tuesday, with WTI crude falling back below $29 a barrel after the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) cut its 2016 outlook for oil prices. March West Texas Intermediate crude lost $1.75, or 5.9%, to settle at $27.94 a barrel.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will defend the U.S. central bank’s first rate hike in a decade and likely insist that further rises this year remain on track, albeit at a slower pace, when she addresses Congress on Wednesday.

U.S. job openings surged in December and the number of Americans voluntarily quitting work hit a nine-year high, pointing to labour market strength despite a slowdown in economic growth. Job openings, a measure of labour demand, increased 261,000 to a seasonally adjusted 5.61 million in December, the Labour Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey (JOLTS). A total of 3.1 million Americans quit their jobs in December, the highest number since December 2006.

General Motors Co (GM.N) said Tuesday it is recalling 473,000 pickups and SUVs in North America because brake pedals could fail due to a faulty nut. The Detroit automaker is calling back 426,573 2015-16 Chevrolet Silverado HD, GMC Sierra HD, and Chevrolet Tahoe police vehicles in the United States and 46,837 in Canada.