Rising crude prices
end winning streak

NEW YORK » Wall Street slipped lower but still held on to most of its recent gains yesterday as investors, their confidence in the economy growing, reacted calmly to oil prices that approached $60 a barrel.

Building on last week's surge in energy prices, crude oil futures reached a new intraday record of $59.52 a barrel, heightening worries that higher prices at the pump would hurt consumer spending and slow economic growth. A barrel of light crude settled at a record $59.37, up 90 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The concern over oil stymied hopes of continuing last week's stock advance, which saw the major indexes climb for five straight sessions. But Joseph Battipaglia, chief investment officer at Ryan Beck & Co., said investors -- who have seen the risk of inflation dwindle and the economy remain on track -- were handling the oil situation well.

"Everything else I see, aside from oil, is in place for a good run. Inflation issues have been pretty much satisfied, the Federal Reserve is on a glide path to stopping their interest rate increases. Everything else looks good," Battipaglia said. "Stocks aren't hugely cheap, but they're still cheap on a relative basis. So if we can get oil back down somewhat, we should be in good shape."

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13.96, or 0.13 percent, to 10,609.11, ending seven straight sessions of gains which saw the Dow rise 140 points.

Broader stock indicators were narrowly lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 0.86, or 0.07 percent, at 1,216.10, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 1.98, or 0.09 percent, to 2,088.13. Both indexes reversed five days in positive territory.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 9 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 1.74 billion shares, compared with 2.5 billion traded on Friday. Friday's heavy trading was due to the expiration of options and futures contracts.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 2.35, or 0.36 percent, at 641.84.

The bond market sold off on the oil concerns, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.11 percent from 4.08 percent late Friday. The dollar made gains against most major currencies, and gold prices also rose.

The Conference Board's latest reading of the index of leading economic indicators showed that the economy could already be slowing faster than many investors expect. The index for May dropped 0.5 percent, more than the 0.3 percent drop Wall Street had expected. The index was unchanged in April.