US stocks rally despite oil prices

Wall Street put aside its concerns about rising oil prices today, giving stocks a late rally as investors focused on generally positive economic news.

The major stock indexes gained ground during the final two hours of the trading session, even after the price of oil momentarily crossed US$66 (€52.94) a barrel.

“I think in the end people want to be bullish,” said Doug Sandler, chief equity strategist at Wachovia Securities in Richmond, Virginia. “Some of that is a trend building on a trend – the market starts to go one way and everybody seems to jump on it.”

But the ups and downs in stock prices seen today – following a selloff on Wednesday – reflect persistent worries by investors that, despite strong corporate earnings and upbeat economic reports, oil prices will eventually exact a toll.

“Oil prices will continue to be a nagging concern,” said Steven Goldman, chief market strategist at Weeden & Co in Greenwich, Connecticut.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 91.48, or 0.9%, at 10,685.89, after giving up a triple digit advance on Wednesday and closing down 21.

Broader stock indicators also closed higher. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 8.68, or 0.71%, to 1,237.81, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 16.74, or 0.78%, to close at 2,174.55.

Analysts say the market of the moment is often difficult to figure by looking at the indexes, particulary the Dow. Oil prices and the concerns they seed about macroeconomic performance are having the greatest impact on the largest companies. That was the case on Wednesday, when much of the selloff focused on large-cap stocks.

But economic optimism is driving demand for the stock of many small, mid-sized and even large companies just below the threshold of the indexes, analysts said.

The market showed today it is still torn between concerns that more expensive oil will inevitably hurt consumer spending and corporate profits and evidence that the economy is coping well with higher crude.

A report released on Wednesday showing a decline in US petrol inventories drove fears about supply. It heightened concerns that refinery shutdowns will make it difficult for refiners to meet peak summer demand. Those concerns were tempered by a report from the International Energy Agency forecasting slower global oil demand growth in 2005.

Investors were also digesting new data from the Commerce Department showing retail sales rose 1.8% in July, less than analysts expected. The increase came despite weak demand at department stores. Almost all the increase derived from vehicle sales, which jumped 6.7%. Excluding cars, retail sales rose just 0.3%, half the gained forecast by economists.

Also today, the Labour Department said the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits declined last week by 6,000 – the first drop in three weeks – to 308,000.

In another Commerce Department report today, inventories held by businesses on shelves and in storage were unchanged in June, marking the first time inventory levels failed to increase in nine months. That effort subtracted significantly from overall economic growth in the second quarter but set the stage for much stronger growth in coming months.

Stocks that traded heavily today included Intel, which fell 6 cents, or 0.22%, to 26.82, after it was downgraded by Goldman Sachs.

Others stocks trading actively included Whirlpool, which on Wednesday raised its bid for competitor Maytag a third time, to US$1.79bn (€1.4357), or US$2.7bn (€2.17bn) including the assumption of debt.

Whirlpool’s stock fell 83 cents, or 1.02%, to 80.70. Maytag’s shares declined 21 cents, or 1.11%, to 18.79.

News Corp gained 55 cents, or 3.35%, to 16.97 after the media conglomerate reported that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 67%.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by more than 2-to-1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume totalled 1.08bn shares, down from 1.26bn shares traded at the same point in Wednesday’s session.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 6.21, or 0.94%, to 666.37.