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New York • Stocks are off to a mixed start on Wall Street as high-dividend companies declined, offsetting gains in consumer goods companies.

Real estate, utilities and phone companies all fell in early trading Thursday, partly due to a rise in bond yields. The price of oil stabilized a day after soaring on news of a preliminary agreement among OPEC nations to cut production in an effort to raise the price of crude.

In earnings news, PepsiCo and ConAgra Foods both rose after surprising investors with strong earnings reports.

As of 7:35 a.m. Mountain time, the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 14 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,325.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,168. The Nasdaq composite lost 8 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,310.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.59 percent.