US shares were flat today following the chop and change of the oil market, as concerns about events in Libya and a lack of indicators provided little direction for traders.
"Stocks have been chopping along in a relatively narrow range," Briefing.com analysts said shortly before the close.
Lingering Middle East unrest and resurfacing euro-area debt concerns weighed on the market, which had risen strongly overnight.
There were no major US economic releases on the calendar to lure interest away from the intensifying unrest in the oil-producing Arab world.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.29 points (0.01 per cent) to finish at 12,213.09.
The broad-market S&P 500 index retreated 1.80 points (0.14 per cent) to 1320.02, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite shed 14.05 points (0.51 per cent) at 2751.72.
Crude oil prices fell in New York and rose in London as forces loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi continued to attack rebels seeking his ouster.
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A series of massive explosions erupted into fireballs near an oil facility outside the rebel-held town of Ras Lanuf.
On Wall Street, it was a weak start to the second-year anniversary of the bear market lows struck on March 9, 2009, when the Dow finished at its lowest level since 1997, at 6,547.05 points. Since then the blue-chip index has rebounded 87 per cent.
On the 30-stock Dow, only a few components traded higher: IBM was up 2.3 per cent, Home Depot was up 1.4 per cent and AT&T was up 1.2 per cent.
Government bailed-out insurer American International Group fell 0.6 per cent. AIG repaid $US6.9 billion ($6.85 billion) to the US Treasury today thanks to the sale of its equity stake in US rival MetLife.
Electronics manufacturer Texas Instruments plunged 3.1 per cent after lowering forecasts for the 2011 first quarter.
The bond market firmed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.47 per cent from 3.54 per cent late today, while that on the 30-year bond dipped to 4.61 per cent from 4.66 per cent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
1 big trade led to market plungeShares weaker on light volumes
