Another sharp drop in oil prices helped Wall Street overcome profit-taking and extend its rally to a third straight session today.

Another jump in oil prices pre-empted a strong rally on Wall Street today, though stocks managed to post modest gains on the strength of the latest consumer price report, which put many investors’ inflation fears to rest for the near term.

Investors, shifting their focus from the economy to a possible second-half profit slump, sent technology and small-cap stocks sharply lower today, moving Wall Street toward another losing week.

Wall Street looked past an underwhelming statement by the Federal Reserve today and rebounded smartly as bargain hunters picked up stocks battered by a week of heavy losses.

Investors adopted a cautious strategy today, cashing in more profits from the market’s recent rallies and giving the market’s major indexes their biggest losses in a month.

Investors, increasingly anxious about a possible war with Iraq, unloaded stocks today, collecting profits from Wall Street’s two-day rally.