NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Blue chips slipped and techs inched higher in a murky session on Wall Street Monday that saw oil prices spike anew and a few Dow components suffer downgrades.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 45.15 to 10,547.06, Charts) fell about 0.4 percent, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (down 0.92 to 1,190.25, Charts) index ended little changed.

The Nasdaq composite (up 3.29 to 2,151.25, Charts) gained just over 0.1 percent.

A number of big cap tech stocks bounced, helping the Nasdaq muster up a late-session advance and the broader market cut its losses.

A pair of downgrades on Dow stocks Alcoa and Pfizer helped keep the 30-share blue-chip index weaker than the Nasdaq or S&P 500.

"Last week was very busy and I think today there is less impetus to move," said Tom Schrader, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Legg Mason. "There's no earnings news, no economic news until later in the week, and so there's nothing really to move us."

Tuesday brings the week's first economic report, the revised read on productivity. Productivity likely rose to a 2 percent annual rate in the third quarter from a prior read of 1.9 percent.

In terms of corporate news, both Intel and Hewlett-Packard are having meetings with analysts on Tuesday. Texas Instruments has its mid-quarter update after the bell Tuesday.

U.S. light crude for January delivery rose 44 cents to settle at $42.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after prices tumbled last week.

Oil had risen more aggressively in the morning following an attack in Saudi Arabia early Monday against the U.S. consulate in Jeddah. Traders may also be concerned that OPEC could decide to cut output at its meeting Friday, analysts said.

"Oil still remains the big uncertainty out there for the market," said Timothy Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management. "I think the attack in Saudi Arabia and worries about Friday's OPEC meeting are unsettling financial markets."

The major indexes had managed to close just above unchanged Friday after a tough session dominated by a weaker-than-expected monthly payrolls report.

Nonetheless, last week was a positive one overall, continuing Wall Street's recent bull run. That same underlying optimism helped bolster the market Monday.

Apple (up $3.10 to $65.78, Research) added another 5 percent, building on its recent run. J.P. Morgan boosted its 2005 earnings estimates for the company, citing expectations for strong sales of its iPod over the holidays. Bear Stearns lifted its 12-month price target on the stock, also due to expectations for continued iPod sales.

Other tech gainers included Oracle (up $0.31 to $13.34, Research), Cisco Systems (up $0.39 to $19.82, Research) and Advanced Micro Devices (up $1.63 to $24.85, Research).

Dow component Pfizer (down $0.68 to $27.21, Research) fell around 2.4 percent after Merrill Lynch downgraded it to "neutral," saying the stock's growth potential is limited in the near term.

Dow stock Alcoa (down $0.44 to $32.42, Research) fell 1.3 percent after Goldman Sachs cut it to "in line" from "outperform."

Other Dow decliners included Merck (down $0.57 to $28.11, Research), Procter & Gamble (down $1.09 to $54.30, Research) and SBC Communications (down $0.30 to $25.51, Research).

Among other movers, Circuit City (down $1.08 to $15.13, Research) plunged 6.7 percent in active New York Stock Exchange trade after the electronics retailer reported that third-quarter sales at stores open a year or more fell 4.3 percent from a year earlier. Economists thought sales would be flat to higher.

Biomira (up $0.29 to $3.57, Research) shares gained 8.8 percent, building on Friday's strong run. The biotech and its development partner, German-based Merck KgaA, said Friday that results from a Phase II trial of their lung cancer treatment were encouraging.

Shares of another biotech, Corgentech (down $11.29 to $7.71, Research), fell nearly 60 percent on disappointing results from a late-stage trial of its treatment for vein grafts. The company is developing the drug with Bristol-Myers Squibb (up $0.01 to $23.94, Research).

In Monday's merger news, Goldcorp agreed to buy Wheaton Mineral for about $2 billion in stock. Both companies are Canada-based gold mining firms. Goldcorp (down $0.08 to $14.26, Research) shares were little changed, while Wheaton (up $0.25 to $3.44, Research) added more than 7.8 percent.

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Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers topped winners by more than 9 to 7 on volume of 1.35 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by nearly 9 to 7 on volume of 2.13 billion shares.

In currency trading, the dollar bounced off record lows versus the euro, and gained more substantially versus the yen.

Treasury prices rose, pushing the 10-year note yield down to 4.22 percent from 4.25 percent late Friday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.