Stocks were narrowly mixed early Monday as investors contended with another spike in oil prices and awaited a regional manufacturing reading for hints about economy, AP reported. Oil prices and concerns about inflation are weighing on the markets and helped trigger last week's steep sell-off. Light, sweet crude moved above $143 per barrel for the first time early Monday before pulling back to $141.99, up $1.78 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Rising prices have pressured stock markets worldwide because of worries that inflation will force consumers and businesses to pare spending, which would hurt economic activity. In the U.S., consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity so a sharp pullback would prove particularly damaging to the economy. The Chicago Purchasing Managers' report on Midwestern manufacturing was due shortly after the start of trading. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 21.81, or 0.19 percent, to 11,368.33. Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.43, or 0.35 percent, to 1,282.81, and the Nasdaq composite index slipped 0.26, or 0.01 percent, to 2,315.37.
