Wall Street started the week with a mixed finish today as investors weighed up volatility in oil prices and new hope for the financial sector after Lehman Brothers posted results.

Wall Street gave up a big early advance and closed mixed today after oil prices closed above 100 for the first time and stoked fears that inflation will stymie an already troubled economy.

Wall Street advanced today as expectations for an interest rate cut from the US Federal Reserve and an uptick in pending home sales helped offset concerns about another round of subprime mortgage-related losses.

Wall Street wilted today as investors awaiting next week’s Federal Reserve meeting remained uneasy that fallout from the slumping housing market could bring more bank losses and pull the economy into recession.

Wall Street shot higher today, lifting the Dow Jones industrials nearly 320 points after reassuring news from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. quelled some of the market’s worst fears about the credit crisis and the economy. A plunge in the price of oil gave investors further incentive to buy.

Stocks in the US finished a back-and-forth session mixed today as investors grappled with weaker-than-expected economic data and weighed the chances of the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates.

Stocks rebounded sharply today as investors, growing more optimistic about chances for an interest rate cut, sought bargains after the previous session’s huge tumble.

Wall Street advanced today ahead of the July 4 holiday as investors drew confidence from a smaller-than-expected dip in factory orders and new merger-and-acquisition activity.

Wall Street resumed its retreat with a third straight session of losses today as declines in oil and gold prices did little to calm anxiety over higher interest rates and a slowing economy. The Dow Jones industrial average is now negative year-to-date for the first time in 2006.

Higher oil prices and sliding consumer confidence sent stocks plunging today as a weak sales report from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. raised concerns about discretionary spending.The Dow Jones industrial skidded almost 185 points.

A plunge in Treasury bond yields propelled stocks sharply higher today as investors grew optimistic that the Federal Reserve’s streak of interest rate hikes will soon end.

Investors concerned about slowing economic growth in the United States sent stocks sharply lower today after the Federal Reserve said it would continue raising interest rates.

Wall Street waffled before finishing lower today as oil prices also see-sawed and traders weighed lacklustre earnings from Xerox Corp against a surge in housing prices.

IBM said today it will be cutting jobs in the UK, Germany, Italy and France as part of a restructuring that will slash between 10,000 and 13,000 positions, mostly in Europe.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and more than 50 other banks, vying for $25 billion of European initial public offerings, are cutting fees to the lowest since at least 1998.

The market is infatuated with the euro which rose to $1.2450. Richard Blackden reports.

GOLDMAN Sachs Group Inc., the number one underwriter of equities worldwide during the past five years, lost market share in 2003 in the weakest year for initial public offerings in more than a decade.

BANK OF AMERICA has agreed to buy FleetBoston Financial Corp for $47 billion in stock, creating the second-biggest US bank and signalling a revival in corporate acquisitions.