Wall Street showed some signs of stability late today, posting a moderate decline after falling sharply early in the session in response to tumbling commodities prices.

A continued slide in oil prices gave Wall Street a moderate advance today, with the major indexes ending the week more than 1% higher, their third straight winning week.

Wall Street rallied to finish moderately higher today as nervous investors got some reassurance from General Motors Corporation’s new union agreement and a favourable court ruling for cigarette makers.

US stocks tumbled after Wal-Mart said higher petrol prices has limited customer spending.

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.

Wall Street pushed to new 52-week highs today as investors cautiously picked up shares on expectations of stronger growth in 2004. A heightened terror alert limited gains.

Wall Street ended an ambivalent session lower today, with investors concerned that stock prices are too high despite a better-than-expected employment report. Still, the three main gauges posted their second straight weekly gain.

Wall Street extended its advance into a sixth straight week today after a brokerage upgrade of IBM raised investor expectations of a rebounding economy. The Nasdaq composite reached an 18-month high.

Better-than-expected profits from Citigroup and Bank of America lifted Wall Street today as investors grew more optimistic about a strong economic rebound. A late-day sell-off, however, limited the gains.

Wall Street pushed higher today as a drop in jobless claims and an upbeat outlook from IBM boosted US investors’ hopes that the economy was improving.

A profit warning from McDonald’s discouraged US investors today, reminding them of the weak economy and prompting them to unload stocks.

Wall Street mostly retrenched today as investors couldn’t resist a chance to cash in quick gains from a two-day rally.