Major Indexes Barely Budge in Flat Session

Wall Street picked up where it left off Monday: stuck in neutral.

Stocks sputtered Tuesday, as traders remained cautious on higher energy prices and economic concern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1 points to 8763. The Nasdaq picked up 17 at 1860, and the S&P 500 increased 3 at 942.

Big players in the manufacturing sector like Boeing (BA) and United Technologies (UTX) left the Dow barely changed.

In finance, ten of the nation's top financial institutions were given the green light to repay about a combined $68 billion in loans taken out as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Reuters reported. The decision to repay the loans came after the firms came to grips with the realities of accepting that money, including federal power over executive compensation.

The labor market looked a bit more stable after the staffing firm Manpower (MAN) said its global quarterly index of the near-term employment situation remained flat in the U.S. for Q3. The firm said the disparity between firms seeking to hire new employees and firms planning to make additional cuts remained constant at -2.

In other economic news, the wholesale inventories fell 1.4% in April, a bit more of a decline than economsits had expected.

World markets were fairly flat. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.8%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave up 1.1%. In Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE finished nearly flat.

Energy prices perked up once again. Crude traded up $1.92 at $70.01 a barrel. According to the Associated Press, its the first time this year oil settled above the $70 mark. Other commodities like copper and aluminum also gained ground.