OREANDA-NEWS. March 25, 2015. Wall Street stocks were little changed early Tuesday after data on US consumer prices showed a rise in February for the first time in four months.

About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 18,110.54, down 5.50 points (0.03 percent).

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.53 (0.03 percent) to 2,103.89, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 6.09 (0.12 percent) at 5,017.06.

The consumer price index increased 0.2 percent month-over-month in February, thanks in part to a rally in energy prices.

Ryan Sweet of Moody's Analytics said core inflation will continue to feel downward pressure from volatile oil prices and the strong US dollar.

Morgan Stanley fell 0.7 percent on news its chief financial officer would leave the company to serve in the same role at Google. Google gained 2.2 percent.

Freeport-McMoRan fell 3.5 percent after slashing its divided from 31 cents per share to five cents per share.

Oil and gas company Chesapeake Energy advanced 1.5 percent on reports activist investor Carl Icahn raised his stake in the from about 10 percent to 11 percent.

Shale producer Whiting Petroleum sank 20.8 percent to \\$30.40 after it announced it was selling 35 million shares for \\$30 per share. The shale producer also announced terms for a bond offering to raise \\$1 billion.

Spicemaker McCormick rose 4.2 percent as first-quarter earnings translated into 70 cents per share, six cents above analyst expectations.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury held steady at 1.91 percent, while the 30-year slipped to 2.50 percent from 2.51 percent Monday. Bond prices and yields move inversely.