US stock market opens flat

NEW YORK (AA) – Wall Street opened flat Tuesday as investors tried to find a direction between the fluctuation in oil prices and the positive sentiment in the European markets.

The Dow Jones fell 13 points to begin the day at 18,480. The S&P 500 was flat with a less than a 1 point decline to 2,168, while the Nasdaq gained less than 1 point to 5,098 to begin the day.

At the U.S. stock market opening, Germany's DAX index was up 0.89 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE posted a 0.04 percent increase, and France's CAC 40 saw a 0.34 percent gain.

However, oil prices were in a state of fluctuation, after they posted more than a 2 percent decline on Monday.

At the first bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 0.5 percent to $42.91, and international benchmark Brent crude was up 0.1 percent to $45.12.

The market will now focus on the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and statements on Wednesday after its two-day July meeting.