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NEW YORK - US stocks cut losses to trade little changed today as energy shares improved as crude oil prices backed off their worst levels of the day and Apple Computer Inc. unveiled a hotly anticipated mobile phone, boosting optimism about the tech sector.
But with the quarterly reporting season at hand, a profit warning by Sprint Nextel Corp. sparked concern about the outlook for earnings gains. Dow component Alcoa Inc. is scheduled to be the first Dow component to release results after the bell today.
Apple unveiled a mobile phone with a touch-screen that combines features from its iPod music player, sending its shares higher and lending some support to the market.
The stock was the biggest positive influence on the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 index. Shares of Apple's US cellular partner, AT&T's Cingular Wireless unit, also rose.
"Apple has been viewed as cutting edge," said Jim Fehrenbach, head of Nasdaq trading at Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis. The news "may be Apple-specific but on a slow day on Wall Street, it's going to get a lot of attention."
Oil prices fell to a one-and-a-half-year low, sending energy shares lower, before paring losses in the afternoon. Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. were down 0.3 per cent at $72.43, after hitting a low of $71.44 earlier.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 21.55 points, or 0.17 per cent, at 12,401.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 2.25 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 1,410.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.74 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 2,438.94.
Sprint was the top drag on the S&P 500 index. Sprint shares tumbled 10.3 per cent to $17.61 after the No. 3 US mobile service provider said late on Monday that profit in 2007 will remain under pressure due to lower margins and revenue will be flat or slightly higher.
Apple shares gained 6.5 per cent to $91.02, while AT&T shares gained 0.2 per cent to $33.89.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, February crude closed down 0.7 per cent at $55.60 per barrel -- after hitting the weakest front-month crude price since June 13, 2005.
Alcoa shares were up 1.2 per cent at $28.82.
- REUTERS
