Stocks balance rise in oil, shopping

Stocks futures lower as oil climbs on worries about Iranian nuclear dispute, but strong end of holiday shopping could provide lift.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The continued dispute with Iran pushed oil prices higher and could give stocks a rough start to the final week of the year, although they could get a boost from reports of a strong end to the holiday shopping season.

Stock futures, which predict the direction of stocks at the open, were in the lower. Light trading volumes in stocks during the holiday week could lead to volatile markets.

Oil prices rose early Tuesday after Iran stepped up threats in the wake of U.N. Security Council sanctions on Saturday due to its nuclear program.

U.S. light, sweet crude climbed 63 cents to $63.04 a barrel in electronic trade. Brent crude jumped 78 cents to $63.20 a barrel.

Treasury prices edged lower early Tuesday, with the yield on the 10-year note at 4.61 percent from 4.62 percent on Friday.

The dollar was higher against yen and little changed versus the euro.

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.