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U.S. stocks edge mostly lower

The slump in crude oil prices and disappointing U.S. home sales data helped nudge stocks mostly lower Monday, pulling the market back from an all-time high reached last week.

The slump in crude oil prices and disappointing U.S. home sales data helped nudge stocks mostly lower Monday, pulling the market back from an all-time high reached last week.

The Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index spent much of the day hovering slightly below their most recent highs. But the Nasdaq composite mounted a late-afternoon comeback that extended its recent winning streak for a ninth day.

Oil drilling companies and homebuilders notched broad declines, while traders bid up shares in utilities.

Investors were looking ahead to the start of a two-day round of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. The remarks could provide insight into when the central bank will begin raising its key interest rate from near zero.

"The markets are in a holding pattern," said Erik Davidson, chief investment officer of Wells Fargo Private Bank. "We'll have some very interesting information coming up from Janet Yellen tomorrow and Wednesday, so the markets are looking at that very closely."

The Dow ended down 23.60 points, or 0.13 percent, to 18,116.84. The S&P 500 fell 0.64 points, or 0.03 percent, to 2,109.66. The Nasdaq gained 5.01 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,960.97. That index has yet to reclaim its record high from the dot-com era, but is within 87 points of that March 2000 peak. The three stock indexes are up for the year.

Stocks started off the day basically flat as investors weighed developments in Greece and falling oil prices.

Greece's new government and its creditors reached an agreement over the weekend that staved off the threat of a Greek bankruptcy and an exit from the euro. Athens was expected to send creditors a list of reforms tied to the four-month bailout pact early Tuesday.

Investors bought up shares in Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which announced Sunday a deal to buy rival drugmaker Salix Pharmaceuticals for about $10 billion in cash. Valeant rose $25.49, or 15 percent, to $198.75.

The price of oil fell for the fourth day in a row as the return of a Libyan oil field raised expectations of more supply. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.36 to close at $49.45 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell $1.32 to close at $58.90 in London.

Wholesale gasoline rose 0.5 cents to close at $1.65 a gallon. Heating oil rose 10.6 cents to close at $2.21 a gallon, and natural gas fell 7.2 cents to close at $2.88 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Precious and industrial metals futures closed slightly lower. Gold fell $4.10 to $1,200.80 an ounce, silver fell two cents to $16.25 an ounce, and copper edged down less than a penny to $2.59 a pound.

U.S. government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.06 percent from 2.11 percent late Friday.

Among other moves Monday:

Cooper Tire & Rubber fell 5 percent after the tire maker reported fourth-quarter earnings short of what analysts had expected. The stock shed $1.89 to $35.82.

Tower Semiconductor reported a profit during its fourth quarter after a loss in the same period a year earlier. Shares in the chip-maker vaulted $2.07, or 15.1 percent, to $15.76.

Polypore International surged 12.7 percent on news it is selling its energy storage business to Asahi Kasei for $2.2 billion after it sells another segment to 3M for $1 billion. The stock gained $6.75 to $59.70.