U.S. stocks closed mixed Tuesday, as investors had no reason to do much other than watch and wait. In international economic news, major European markets closed lower, as investors digested the European Commission's latest economic forecast. A surprise drop in inflation last month has cast fresh shadows over the health of the European economy. Asian markets ended mixed. The dollar lost ground against the euro, the pound, and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for December delivery dropped $1.25 to $93.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures fell $6.60 to $1,308.10 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 20.9, or 0.13 percent, to 15,618.22. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.96, or 0.28 percent, to 1,762.97. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 3.27, or 0.08 percent, to 3,939.86.
