Stocks mostly down, Dow just under closing high; oil leaps

NEW YORK — The Dow Jones industrial average ended up fractionally Wednesday after a big jump in oil prices on word of an OPEC oil deal.

Tech stocks took a hit as the major indexes ended mostly lower to cap a wild month.

The Dow lost considerable steam, ending up a mere 2 points and about 29 shy of its record closing high of 19,152.14. Earlier in the day, it and the S&P 500 topped their closing records, both set Friday, before scaling back. The S&P 500 wound up in negative territory, down 0.3%

Losing more altitude is the Nasdaq composite, which fell 1.1%.

OPEC agrees to oil production cuts

The price of benchmark U.S. crude jumped as much as 9%m ending about a dime over $49 a barrel after OPEC countries moved toward finalizing a deal to reduce production.

Among energy companies, Devon Energy (DVN) jumped 14.6%, the biggest gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped to 2.36% from 2.29%, its highest level since mid-2015. Bond yields are linked to higher interest rates.

Banks also rose sharply after President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said interest rates would rise. That would make lending more profitable for banks.

Overseas, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.7% and the FTSE 100 in Britain picked up 0.6%. Germany’s DAX gained 0.2%. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was flat and the Kospi of South Korea gained 0.3%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 0.2%.