US stocks retreat from as energy and materials prices slip

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are slipping Monday morning as energy prices retreat from a rally late last week.

Mining and materials stocks are slumping, and paper and packing companies alse lost ground.

The price of benchmark U.S. crude fell 85 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $31.37 a barrel in New York, and Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, lost 75 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $31.41 a barrel in London.

U.S. oil jumped 9 percent Friday after setting 12-year lows earlier in the week.

Tyco makes fire suppression systems and Johnson Controls makes ventilation systems, auto seating and car batteries.

McDonald's rose after the restaurant chain said its U.S. sales grew 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter, its best result in more than three years.

Business economists became more pessimistic about profits and sales than they were last fall and expect slower economic growth, according to a survey by the National Association of Business Economists.

[...] most of the survey participants said their companies plan to raise wages in the first quarter.