Stocks rise after durable goods data

By Tim Paradis
Associated Press

NEW YORK » Wall Street managed to finish an erratic session with a moderate gain yesterday as investors found some comfort in upbeat data on durable goods orders.

Oil prices, however, remain a big focus on Wall Street. Crude's recovery from its lows yesterday ate into some of the stock market's enthusiasm over the Commerce Department's durable goods report; the government said orders for items including aircraft, machinery, cars, refrigerators and computers slipped 0.5 percent last month.

Wall Street expected a steeper decline. Excluding transportation, orders rose 2.5 percent - the sharpest increase in nine months. And orders for electrical equipment and appliances jumped 27.8 percent, the largest-ever increase.

But oil's comeback touched off renewed worries that high energy prices will hurt businesses and their customers.

"It seems that the good news is really being kind of overshadowed by high oil prices," said Richard Sparks, a senior equity analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati. "The fear is that higher oil prices might drive us into that recessionary area."

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 45.68, or 0.36 percent, to 12,594.03. The blue chips had been down more than 45 points earlier in the session.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.49, or 0.40 percent, to 1,390.84, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.46, or 0.22 percent, to 2,486.70. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 4.07, or 0.55 percent, to 738.46.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 9 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 3.81 billion shares, up from 3.39 billion shares Tuesday.

Bond prices fell following the durable goods report. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, jumped to 4.03 percent from 3.92 percent late Tuesday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Light, sweet crude rose $2.18 to settle at $131.03 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after being down nearly $3 a barrel earlier in the session.

"There's a lot of commentary especially out of the Fed that the oil prices are rising because of basic demand as opposed to speculation in the market. I think that has a chilling effect on the stock market," said Kim Caughey, equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group.

A drop of more than $3 a barrel helped stocks finish higher Tuesday, the first day of trading for the week after Memorial Day. But prices remained close to last week's record of $135.

In corporate news, financial shares were among the worst performers in stocks after a Citi Investment Research analyst said the $20 billion in capital recently raised by American International Group Inc. was insufficient and that the insurer's financial position could worsen. AIG was the steepest decliner among the 30 stocks that comprise the Dow industrials. The stock fell $1.71, or 4.7 percent, to $34.91.

Soft drink bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. fell $1.13, or 5.3 percent, to $20.18 after warning that weak sales trends in the U.S. would likely lead to a drop in its second-quarter profit and that meeting its 2008 earnings forecast could be difficult.

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