NEW YORK, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street opened flat Wednesday, as investors digested a larger-than-expected increase in orders for big-ticket manufactured goods and oil spike.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported orders for durable goods rose 1.3 percent last month, far above the slight 0.1 percent increase that economists had expected.
However, the continuous rise of oil prices weighed on stocks. Light, sweet crude was up 2.54 U.S. dollars to 118.81 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as the market concerned that hurricane Gustav may slam into oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
Meanwhile, investors also awaited weekly oil inventories report.
The Dow Jones fell 8.14 to 11,404.73. Broader indexes traded mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.94 to 1,272.45; and the Nasdaq fell 1.26 to 2,360.71.
