Asia stocks down on Greek economic woes

U.S. stocks closed nearly unchanged Monday, after a day of uneven trading plagued by investors' fears about the approaching "fiscal cliff.''

The fiscal cliff refers to government spending cuts and tax increases that are scheduled to kick in at the beginning of the new year, unless a divided Congress and the White House can work out a compromise before then.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 0.31 points at 12,815.08. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.18 points to 1,380.03. The Nasdaq composite index fell 0.61 points to 2,904.26.

Benchmark oil for December delivery fell 36 cents to $85.21 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 50 cents to finish at $85.57 per barrel.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.2683 from $1.2714 late Monday in New York. The dollar from fell to 79.41 yen from 79.46 yen.