NEW YORK, March 28 — Wall Street stocks were mixed early today as markets monitored Russia-Ukraine peace talks, while oil prices retreated on worries over lower energy demand.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv’s negotiators were studying a Russian demand for Ukrainian neutrality, which the ex-Soviet country had previously rejected. 

Meanwhile, oil prices pulled back as the eastern half of Shanghai went into lockdown following the latest Covid-19 outbreak, reviving worries about petroleum demand.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4 per cent at 34,708.92.

The broad-based S&P 500 was flat at 4,542.10, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.6 per cent to 14,258.87.

After a rocky start to 2022, stocks have done better the last two weeks, in part due to investor views that equities were oversold.

This week’s economic calendar includes the March government jobs report and an update on consumer confidence.

Among individual companies, Tesla jumped 6.0 per cent as the electric car maker announced plans for a stock split. — AFP