U.S. stocks fluctuated as China's signal that it may add to stimulus boosted metals prices from copper to gold. Brent crude slipped to an 11-year low on signs the global glut will persist, while Treasuries advanced.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index pared gains to 0.1 percent, after earlier rallying as much as 0.9 percent. The U.S. benchmark recovered from a 3.3 percent rout over two days after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. Ten-year Treasury notes erased losses for December, while the dollar slipped. Brent futures in London fell to the weakest intraday level since July 2004, with drilling in the U.S. increasing. Emerging-market equities headed for the fourth gain in five days.

The rout in crude prices has pushed oil to the lowest levels since before financial crisis, threatening to keep inflation from rising to levels targeted by central banks in Europe and America. Equities have tumbled since the Fed's tightening on concern that U.S. growth could slow without zero-percent interest rates. China's government said monetary policy must be more "flexible" and fiscal policy more "forceful" to combat slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy.

Brent crude futures were 1.9 percent lower at $36.19 a barrel, after a 2.8 percent decline last week. It fell as low as $36.04 on Monday, the lowest since July 2004. West Texas Intermediate crude in New York was little changed at $34.74 a barrel.

Gas, which has been battered by widespread warmth in the eastern half of the country, headed for the biggest one-day gain in seven weeks as forecasts showed mild weather fading in the U.S. Midwest. Gas futures for January delivery rose 7.9 percent, to $1.907 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.