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New York, USA: Wall Street stocks were mixed early Wednesday as markets weighed the latest rise in oil prices amid increased US-Iran tension in the Middle East.
Crude prices were up more than two percent early Wednesday.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2 percent at 52,326.69.
The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.1 percent to 7,500.58, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.4 percent at 25,727.18.
"Festering concerns that the US-Iran standoff is at risk of heating up further, as opposed to cooling off appreciably soon, are behind the spike in oil prices," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare, who described the latest rise in oil prices as a factor in the "defensive-minded turn" in equities.
Among individual companies, US chipmaker AMD rose 0.7 percent after it announced plans to invest up to $5 billion in artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic, as both companies announced a partnership that also includes a major order for processors.
