Oil Spurt Drives Dow to Record Despite Drop for Most Stocks

Stocks mostly fell on Monday, but a spurt in oil prices helped push the energy sector higher and the Dow Jones industrial average to another record.

The Dow rose 39.58 points, or 0.2 percent, to extend its record set on Friday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, which is the benchmark for many more investors than the Dow, pulled back from its own record, also set on Friday, and dipped 2.57 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,256.96. The Nasdaq composite fell 31.96, or 0.6 percent, to 5,412.54.

The Dow was able to make the lone gain among the big three indexes partly thanks to Exxon Mobil and Chevron. They rose with oil, which touched its highest price since the summer of 2015 after OPEC persuaded Russia and 10 other oil-producing nations to announce production cuts over the weekend.

Energy stocks in the S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent, and they were among the six sectors to rise of the 11 that make up the index.

Still, nine stocks fell on the New York Stock Exchange for every five that rose, and the day’s loss marked the end of a six-day winning streak for the S&P 500, its longest such run since June 2014.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose above 2.50 percent to its highest level since autumn 2014 before settling back at 2.47 percent on Monday, where it was on late Friday.

When the Federal Reserve wraps up its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, investors almost universally expect it to raise short-term interest rates for just the second time in a decade.

The price of U.S. benchmark crude rose $1.33, or 2.6 percent, to settle at $52.83 per barrel in New York. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.36, or 2.5 percent, to close at $55.69 a barrel in London.

That helped Exxon Mobil to rise $1.98, or 2.2 percent, to $90.98. Chevron rose $1.34, or 1.2 percent, to $117.15, and ConocoPhillips rose 61 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $51.38.

Lockheed Martin fell $6.42, or 2.5 percent, to $253.11 after President-elect Trump tweeted that the cost of its F-35 fighter jet program “is out of control.” Last week, Trump criticized Boeing for the cost of the next Air Force One. That tweet briefly caused Boeing stock to drop, though it quickly turned back higher.

Natural gas dropped 23.9 cents, or 6.4 percent, to settle at $3.507 per 1,000 cubic feet, giving up some of its big gains from the past month. Natural gas, which often rises with expectations of colder temperatures and increased electricity usage, rose last week to its highest price in two years.

Wholesale gasoline rose 4 cents to $1.54 per gallon, and heating oil rose 3 cents to $1.67 a gallon.

Gold rose $3.90, or 0.3 percent, to $1,165.80 per ounce. Silver rose 22 cents to $17.19 an ounce and copper fell 3 cents to $2.62 per pound.

The dollar fell against many of its rivals, including the British pound and Canadian dollar. The euro rose to $1.0630 from $1.0551, and the dollar fell to 115.12 yen from 115.23 yen.

In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 stock index fell 0.9 percent and Germany’s DAX shed 0.1 percent. France’s CAC 40 was down 0.1 percent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.8 percent South Korea’s Kospi index inched up 0.1 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.4 percent.