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Wall Street declines in early deals

US stocks declined, after quickly surrendering opening gains as crude-oil futures broke to another record high, hitting an earlier improvement in investor sentiment, encouraged by an unanticipated rise in April home construction.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 19.38 points, or 0.2%, to 12,973.28.

Among the blue chips, General Electric fell 0.3% after the Louisville, Ky.-based company said it might sell its $7.2 billion appliance business.

The S&P 500 shed 1.68 points, or 0.1%, to 1,421.89, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 9.61 points, or 0.4%, to 2,524.12.

Ahead of Wall Street's opening bell, stock futures extended gains after the government estimated home builders broke ground on 8.2% more homes in April, led by a spike in starting construction on multi-family homes.

At 10 a.m. Eastern, the University of Michigan is scheduled to release its consumer confidence index for May.

The starting rise in U.S. equities came even as crude-oil futures rallied to a fresh high of $127.82 a barrel earlier on, with crude futures more recently at $127.41 a barrel, up $3.29, or 2.7%.

Prices were also climbing at the gas pumps, with prices rising a penny a gallon in the last day to a new record average of $3.79 for unleaded, the Daily fuel Gauge Report from Triple-A said.

The surge in crude prices bolstered gold's appeal as an inflation hedge, with the precious metal climbing to $898 an ounce, up $18, or 2.1%, in early trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Treasury prices fell, sending yields higher, with the benchmark 10-year note down 0.08% at 100 7/32, its yield climbing to 3.846%.

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