NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main indexes slipped in choppy trading on Tuesday, as investors cautiously awaited crucial data later in the week for more clues on the path of inflation.

Exxon Mobil Corp shed 2.3%, weighing the most on the benchmark S&P 500, after sources said BlackRock Inc has backed four candidates to join the energy giant’s board.

Energy dropped about 1%, leading sectoral declines. Industrials and real estate were the only S&P sectors in positive territory.

Airline stocks were a bright spot after United Airlines and Hawaiian Holdings issued upbeat air traffic and ticket sale estimates that sent their shares up 3.2% and 4.5%, respectively.

The S&P 1500 airlines index added about 1.7%.

At 11:53 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 35.57 points, or 0.10%, at 34,358.41 and the S&P 500 was down 6.30 points, or 0.15%, at 4,190.75. The Nasdaq Composite was down 15.67 points, or 0.11%, at 13,645.51.

Boeing rose 1.6% after aircraft leasing business SMBC Aviation Capital agreed to buy 14 more 737 MAX jets.