Slipping oil prices spur trickle-down in stocks

Traders speculated that member nations of the group OPECwould fail to agree on production cuts.

NA slump in energy prices pushed the stock market back from record levels on Tuesday.

Energy stocks slid as the price of oil resumed its descent. Traders speculated that member nations of the oil-producing group OPEC would fail to agree on production cuts at an upcoming meeting in Vienna on Thursday. Oil has dropped almost a third from a peak in June.

While lower oil prices are a long-termboon to consumers and industrial companies, they are a drag on stocks in the near term because energy companies account for about 10 percent of the overall market’s profits.

Despite the losses, the major indices remain close to all-time highs.

Stocks have been drifting gradually higher this month, having rebounded sharply from a slump in October, as investors have grown more confident that actions from central banks around theworld will help bolster the global economy. The gains are likely to continue for now, said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist atNorthern Trust.

“People’s sentiment is still pretty conservative,” he said. “Thatmeans that the slowand-steady market can continue longer than people anticipate.”

The Standard& Poor’s 500 index fell 2.38 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,067.03. TheDowJones industrial average dropped 2.96 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 17,814.94. The Nasdaq composite gained 3.36 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,758.25.

Stocks started the daywith small gains after a report showed that the U.S. economy grewat a solid 3.9 percent annual rate in the July-September period, faster than the 3.5 percent that initiallywas reported. The upward revision was the result of higher estimates of spending by consumers and businesses, the Commerce Department said.

That positive report was tempered by news thatU.S. consumer confidence fell in November. The Conference Board says its consumer confidence index fell to 88.7, down from a seven-year high of 94.5 in October. The decline primarily reflected less optimism in the short-term outlook as consumers expressed less confidence in current business conditions.

Energy stocks slid along with oil prices after reports that the world’s biggest producers are unwilling to cut production to help stop a slump in the price of crude. The sector dropped 1.6 percent and is now down 3.2 percent for the year.