Oil prices moved higher overnight after Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz

U.S. stocks were mixed early Tuesday morning, whipsawing just above or below the break-even mark.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index declined for another day Monday after a Federal Reserve official rattled investors last week by saying already-elevated interest rates might have to go higher than expected to stop surging inflation. 

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 3,949.94. The Nasdaq composite, dominated by tech stocks, dropped 1.1% to 11,024.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.1% at 33,700.28.

It was supported by a 6.3% gain for Disney after the company announced former CEO Bob Iger would return to the job. Apple slid 2.2% and Visa fell 2.1%. Tesla tumbled 6.8% after briefly hitting a two-year intraday low.

The electric automaker’s shares are down more than 50% this year on fears CEO Elon Musk will be distracted by his $44 billion purchase of Twitter. 

Consumer and energy stocks also declined. Target fell 3% and Exxon Mobil dropped 1.4%. 

U.S. markets close Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and have a shortened trading day Friday. 

On Wednesday, the Fed is due to release minutes from its latest meeting, which might give investors more insight into plans to fight inflation that is near a four-decade high. 

Traders worry unusually large rate hikes by the Fed and other central banks this year might tip the global economy into a recession. 

They expect the Fed to raise rates again at its December meeting but by one-half percentage point after four hikes of 0.75 percentage points, three times its usual margin. 

The president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, James Bullard, dashed hopes the Fed might be easing off rate hike plans. He suggested the U.S. central bank’s key lending rate might need to rise to 5% to 7% before inflation is under control. That would be almost double the current range of 3.75% to 4%, up from close to zero in March. 

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets were mixed Tuesday after Wall Street sank and Chinese anti-virus controls fueled concern about an economic slowdown. 

Shanghai and Hong Kong declined while Tokyo advanced.In China, expanding restrictions on millions of people in multiple cities to fight virus outbreaks are adding to concern the world’s second-largest economy might weaken. 

“Fears over China’s COVID situation are putting pressure on the global outlook for demand,” Anderson Alves of ActivTrades said in a report. “Positioning for an upside for Chinese stocks will have to wait longer.” 

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1% to 3,081.89 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 0.7% to 28,150.50. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank 1.1% to 17,473.13. The Kospi in Seoul shed 0.2% to 2,414.70 while Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained 0.6% to 7,181.20. New Zealand and Jakarta declined while Singapore advanced.