Stocks Were Little Changed in Early Trading

U.S. stocks opened lower and turned green in early trading on Tuesday, to close out the final session of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 17.81 points, or 0.06%, to 28,479.95. The S&P 500 added 3.23 points, or 0.10%, to 3,224.52. The Nasdaq Composite gained 12.12 points, or 0.14%, to 8,958.12.

Oil futures slumped Tuesday, set to end the strongest calendar year for crude since 2016 on a down note. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery fell 74 cents, or 1.2%, to $60.94 a barrel, while March Brent crude lost 72 cents, or 1.1%, to trade at $65.95 a barrel.

Americans signed more contracts to purchase homes in November, a rebound from the previous month, indicating that the housing market is still strong. The National Association of Realtors said Monday that its pending home sales index, which measures the numbers of purchase contracts signed, rose 1.2% last month, to 108.5.

President Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. and China will sign the first phase of a trade deal on Jan. 15 and that he will travel to China “at a later date” to begin the second round of talks.