U.S. Stocks Edge Up as Oil Falls

Asian tech shares under pressure

-- Oil prices drop ahead of OPEC meeting

-- Bond yields edge lower

U.S. stocks struggled for traction Monday as oil prices slid.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3 points, or less than 0.1%, to 23554 shortly after the opening bell. The S&P 500 added less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost less than 0.1%.

While Monday's economic calendar is light, a series of data reports are due from around the world later this week. The U.S. Commerce Department releases inflation data for October, while the Senate Banking Committee holds a confirmation hearing for Jerome Powell, the man nominated to serve as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The retail sector is also likely to remain in focus later Monday after climbing Friday in the U.S. ahead of a weekend of holiday sales.

"It would seem like we are off to a good start [to the holiday shopping season]," said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade. Hopes for a solid final quarter as well as better-than-expected earnings reports have drawn some investors back into beaten-down retail shares in recent sessions.

"It's actually a much brighter outlook for retail than perhaps many of us thought six months ago," Mr. Kinahan said.

Energy stocks fell with oil prices on Monday, weighing on major indexes.

Shares of energy companies in the S&P 500 fell 0.4%, among the biggest decliners of the broad index's 11 sectors. U.S. crude oil shed 1.3% to $58.17 a barrel ahead of an OPEC meeting Thursday.

Meanwhile, investors favored assets considered safer stores of value, sending government bond prices higher.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 2.333%, according to Tradeweb, from 2.342% Friday. Yields fall as bond prices rise.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 swung between small advances and losses and was last down 0.3%. Shares of Swiss private-banking company Julius Baer Group was among the biggest decliners after its chief executive resigned.

Stock indexes in Asia came under pressure as technology stocks slid.

Morgan Stanley downgraded stock ratings for Samsung Electronics and Taiwan Semiconductor. South Korea's Kopsi Composite Index, which heavily weights the two firms, fell 1.4% in its biggest one-day decline since August.

Much of the recent selloff in Asian shares has come from companies that have already posted strong gains this year, said Andrea Cicione, head of strategy at TS Lombard, noting investors are questioning whether they are willing to pay up front for all the growth that these companies will deliver.

"But we haven't seen anything for the moment that worries us," he said, noting fundamentally, the outlook for the economy and global equities remains sound and investors generally feel they can't afford to miss out on this market.

Akane Otani contributed to this article.

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com and Kenan Machado at kenan.machado@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 27, 2017 10:13 ET (15:13 GMT)