Stocks in a struggle

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks were flat Monday as oil prices jumped over $1 a barrel in a session with little in the way of economic developments.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell a few points with an hour remaining in the session.

Both the broader S&P 500 index and the tech-laden Nasdaq were little changed.

After a string of losing sessions, U.S. markets capped last week with a three-day rally, helped by easing Treasury yields and tame inflation readings both at the wholesale and consumer level.

For the week, the Dow gained 1.6 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq gained 2.1 percent.

Fears that the Federal Reserve will have to raise interest rates sometime this year due to strong economic growth and greater inflationary pressure prompted a selloff last week in the Treasury market, putting yields at a five-year high.

Major gauges followed, with each following 3 percent or more over a 3-day span, its worst selloff since February.

With no major economic readings issued Monday and few reports on the horizon this week, the recent market volatility should continue, said William Hummer, principal at Wayne Hummer Investments.

"I expect this to be a rather choppy week until there's greater clarification about where we are heading," said Hummer.

Oil prices continued to push higher Monday as U.S. light crude for July delivery climbed $1.09 Monday to $69.09 a barrel.

Alcoa (up $0.68 to $42.28, Charts, Fortune 500) lead the Dow 30 advancers following a report that mining group BHP Billiton is reconsidering a takeover bid for the aluminum producer.

In other corporate news, the fast-food chain Wendy's (down $1.52 to $38.21, Charts) said Monday it was exploring a possible sale of the company and also cut its 2007 earnings forecast, sending the stock down more than 3 percent.

Boeing (down $0.67 to $97.48, Charts, Fortune 500) rival Airbus collected a number of plane orders at the Paris Air Show, including an $8 billion deal with U.S. carrier US Airways.

Share of Apple (up $3.61 to $124.11, Charts, Fortune 500) rose after the company said Monday that its widely anticipated iPhone will have a longer battery life than it originally expected, putting to rest one of the key concerns about the new wireless phone.

British media outfit Pearson (down $0.11 to $17.10, Charts) is in talks with General Electric (down $0.02 to $38.10, Charts, Fortune 500) about a joint bid for Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones (down $0.06 to $58.95, Charts) that would permit the controlling Bancroft family to keep a minority interest, according to a report published Sunday afternoon.

Shares of the retail footwear firm Genesco (up $3.98 to $53.58, Charts), which operates the Journeys chain, soared Monday after fellow retailer Finish Line Inc. said it would purchase the company for about $1.5 billion.

In the only economic news of the day, U.S. home builder sentiment fell to its lowest level in over 16 years, the National Association of Home Builders said Monday, citing rising mortgage rates and more strict lending practices.

Bond prices moved slightly higher, pushing up the benchmark 10-year yield to 5.14 percent down from 5.16 percent late Friday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar eased against the euro, but was higher versus the yen.

Market breadth was negative, as losers edged out gainers on the New York Stock Exchange on volume of 887 million shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners barely beat advancers as 1.30 billion shares changed hands.

COMEX gold for August delivery added $1.20 to $659.90 an ounce.

Asian markets finished sharply higher Monday, with Japan's benchmark Nikkei index climbing about 1 percent to a three-month high. In Europe trading, stocks ended slightly lower.