Washington - US stocks were led lower Tuesday by energy and metals producers, erasing an earlier rally and masking gains made in airline shares as the price of oil hit its lowest level in five months.

Alcoa Inc, Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp all lost more than 3 per cent as crude oil for October delivery fell 5 per cent to 109.71 dollars per barrel.

But the share price of Delta Air Lines surged 13 per cent and AMR Corp, parent company of American Airlines, jumped 11 per cent. Automaker General Motors Corp rose more than 6 per cent.

Technology stocks were led lower by Ebay Inc after an analyst forecast lower share prices for the internet auctioneer.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 26.63 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 11,516.92. The broad-based Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 5.25 points, or 
0.41 per cent, to 1,277.58. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slid 18.28 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 2,349.24.

The US currency rose to 68.82 euro cents from 68.15 euro cents on Friday. The dollar fell against the Japanese currency to 108.55 yen from 108.80 yen on Friday.

Gold fell to 810.50 dollars from 835.20 dollars per fine ounce on Friday. (dpa)