NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market flipped between slight gains and losses on Tuesday, keeping the Standard & Poor’s 500 index on course for its third monthly drop this year. Ford Motor sank after cutting its profit forecast, while eBay jumped after announcing plans to spin off PayPal. Oil prices plunged, pulling energy companies’ stocks down.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,058 as of 2:57 p.m. Eastern time. The S&P 500 slipped four points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,974. The Nasdaq composite lost nine points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,496