Wall Street Opens Mixed as Gulf Tensions Lift Oil to Six-Week High

U.S. equity benchmarks opened on a mixed note Tuesday as renewed hostilities in the Middle East pushed crude prices to their strongest level since late July, with market participants also looking ahead to inflation data scheduled for later this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 303.8 points, or 0.57%, in early trading to 53,110.45. The S&P 500 slipped 0.8 points, or 0.01%, to 7,717.81, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 21.6 points, or 0.08%, to 26,528.571.