US stocks slip after weak economic data; energy shares buck trend, move higher as oil rises

U.S. stocks are drifting lower in midday trading following some weak reports on the U.S. economy.

Oil prices continued to rise Wednesday, helping drillers and other energy companies move higher.

News Corp., which publishes The Wall Street Journal, fell 7 percent after its results missed analysts' forecasts. Noodles & Co. plunged 18 percent after also reporting disappointing results.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell four points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,085 as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 46 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,881. The Nasdaq declined nine points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,929.

Oil rose 52 cents to $60.91 a barrel.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.22 percent, the highest in two months.