Dow Ends Day Up 27

US stocks struggled to close with meager gains, narrowly avoiding another down day. The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 27 points, or 0.2%, to 16,016 Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index eked out a gain of a point, less than 0.1%, to 1,881. The Nasdaq composite gave up 11 points, or 0.3%, to 4,476.

Safe-play stocks like utilities and telecommunications companies were the biggest gainers on Tuesday as the market comes off its worst opening to a year in history. Energy stocks fared poorly as the price of oil took another tumble. US crude sank $1 to a little under $29 a barrel, its lowest price since 2003. Tiffany sank 5% after the company reported weak holiday sales for jewelry. (More Dow Jones stories.)