The Dow and S&P 500 are down at midday following a drop in energy shares, while the Nasdaq is up slightly.
Shares of Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> are down 1.2 percent, while shares of Chevron <CVX.N> are down 0.7 percent, both among the biggest drags on the Dow and S&P 500. The S&P energy index <.SPNY> is down 1.4 percent, the day&apos;s worst-performing sector as oil prices decline.
Tech shares are rising, including Yahoo <YHOO.O>, which is up 2.6 percent and is the Nasdaq&apos;s most active name in anticipation of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd&apos;s <IPO-BABA.N> initial public offering. Yahoo has a 22.4 percent stake in Alibaba and is required to sell 140 million Alibaba shares in the IPO.
"It&apos;s very light on the economic news (and) with people returning from summer vacation, it&apos;s all about the valuations so they will make these little moves like we&apos;re seeing here," said Larry Peruzzi, senior equity trader at Cabrera Capital Markets Inc in Boston.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> is down 24.05 points, or 0.14 percent, to 17,113.31, the S&P 500 <.SPX> is losing 5.66 points, or 0.28 percent, to 2,002.05 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> is adding 1.84 points, or 0.04 percent, to 4,584.74.
The largest percentage gainer on the New York Stock Exchange is Daqo New Energy <DQ.N>, rising 10.61 percent, while the largest percentage decliner is Callon Petroleum <CPE.N>, down 8.90 percent.
Among the most active stocks on the NYSE are Brazil&apos;s Petrobras <PBR.N>, down 1.75 percent to $19.04, and Ford Motor Co <F.N>, down 2.39 percent to $16.73.
Besides Yahoo, most active stocks on the Nasdaq include Microsoft <MSFT.O>, up 1.1 percent to $46.44 and Apple Inc <AAPL.O>, down 0.2 percent to $98.80.
Declining issues are outnumbering advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,802 to 1,085, for a 1.66-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,333 issues are rising and 1,292 falling for a 1.03-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.
The broad S&P 500 index is posting 41 new 52-week highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite is recording 64 new highs and 18 new lows.