Stocks are mixed in early trading as another drop in oil blunts the market’s reaction to uneven earnings reports.

Investors believe the drop in oil could help the economy. Crude has retreated nearly $5 a barrel in the past two sessions as Hurricane Dolly looked likely to spare oil installations. It’s down more than $20 since hitting a record above $147 just weeks ago.

The Dow Jones industrials are down about 32 points at the 11,750 level a day after rising more than 130. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up fractionally at the 1,277 level.