U.S. stocks slipped on Tuesday as crude oil prices jumped above $50 a barrel and an investment bank's rating cut of tech bellwether Intel Corp. hurt the semiconductor sector. Oil touched a three-week high as traders hedged their bets ahead of Wednesday's U.S. inventory data and a long holiday weekend. Higher oil prices drag down stocks on investor fears that rising energy costs will sap corporate profits. Shares of oil company Exxon Mobil Corp. edged up 30 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $51.22 but air carrier Delta Air Lines Inc. fell 22 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $6.39. Shares of Dow component Intel fell 3.8 percent after Credit Suisse First Boston cut the world's largest chip maker to "underperform" from "outperform." The Dow Jones industrial average lost 41.30 points, or 0.39 percent, at 10,448.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 4.66 points, or 0.40 percent, to 1,172.58. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was down 13.92 points, or 0.67 percent, at 2,071.27. --More 2235 Local Time 1935 GMT
