A volatile Wall Street advanced today for the second day in a row, as investors found renewed confidence in a report that Bank of America is close to buying struggling mortgage lender Countrywide Financial.

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 pulled back today after economic data pointing to weakness in regional manufacturing and a slowing US economy weighed on investor sentiment in light trading ahead of the holiday weekend.

Stocks pulled back today after economic data pointing to weakness in regional manufacturing and a slowing US economy weighed on investor sentiment in light trading ahead of the holiday weekend.

Wall Street advanced for the third session in a row today, although the Dow Jones industrial average fell just short of touching its record high close after a jump in oil prices stifled investors’ enthusiasm.

Wall Street managed a modest advance in light pre-holiday trading today, boosted by weakening oil prices and a gross domestic product report that showed the economy expanding at a faster pace than previously thought.

US stocks ended a turbulent second quarter with a moderate decline today as money managers, doing last-minute adjustments, locked in gains from Thursday’s big rally.

Wall Street closed out an uneasy May with a solid advance today, even after minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting indicated that inflation pressures raised the chance of another interest rate hike in June. The major indexes ended the month broadly lower.

Wall Street extended its losses today, a day after an inflation scare sent the Dow Jones industrial average on its biggest one-day drop in three years and put the Nasdaq composite index in the red for 2006.

US stocks were mixed today after earnings reports from General Motors and Merck pushed the Dow Jones industrial average up to a six-year high while the Nasdaq composite sagged along with eBay.

A drop in oil prices and strong earnings at PepsiCo and Cisco Systems propelled stocks higher today, with the Dow Jones industrial average surging more than 100 points.