US stocks back to flat as oil price pares gains

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks were flat mid-day trading today as encouraging economic news in the U.S. was weighed down by the price of oil, which pulled back as the day progressed. Stocks were still on pace to be up for the second-straight week, however.

Utility stocks also fell sharply, as the encouraging economic news caused interest rates to rise and made dividend-paying utility stocks less attractive.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose five points, or 0.03 percent, to 16,701 as of 12:22 p.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose two points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,953 and the Nasdaq composite rose six points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,587.

All three indexes are up roughly 2 percent this week and the Dow and S&P 500 are positive for February, a turnaround from the dismal performance for the stock market in January.