Oil slide drags on Wall Street; S&P poised for best week of 2016

The Nasdaq edged higher, helped by a 7.9 percent rise in Applied Materials after the chip equipment provider gave a strong profit and revenue forecast for the current quarter. The S&P 500 remains down 6.4 percent this year, hurt by oil's prolonged slide and fears of China-led slowdown in the global economy. Oil prices, which have been tightly tied to the performance of equities, fell 4 percent as record high U.S. crude stockpiles heightened supply concerns.