S&P 500 index
nears 4-year high

NEW YORK » Stocks meandered to a mixed finish yesterday as higher oil prices pressured the market, but the Standard & Poor's 500 index neared a four-year high in a sign of Wall Street's underlying bullishness.

While there was little news to give the markets a clear direction, the stock market held on to the gains of the past three sessions, which saw the major indexes jump roughly 3 percent. Strong earnings from PepsiCo Inc. and others helped investors remain positive.

That helped Wall Street withstand another surge in crude futures. Oil prices rose above $60 per barrel as traders worried about another active hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico.

A barrel of light crude was quoted at $60.62, up $1.70, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"On balance, things are going well, but the mood is still very, very guarded," Hugh Johnson, chairman and chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors, said of stocks. "Confidence in the market is improving, but it's improving in very small steps because there's still risks out there, like oil prices."

The S&P rose 2.77, or 0.23 percent, to 1,222.21, just 3 points shy of its four-year high of 1,225.31, reached March 7. The index briefly surpassed that level before edging back in the last hour of trading.

The other major indexes were mixed. The Nasdaq composite index was up 7.72, or 0.36 percent, at 2,143.15, its best close since Jan. 3, while the Dow Jones industrial average fell 5.83, or 0.06 percent, to 10,513.89. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 9 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 1.99 billion shares, compared with 1.89 billion on Monday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 0.95, or 0.14 percent, at 670.79, edging off of its all-time high set Monday.

The NYSE composite index rose 29.35, or 0.40 percent, to 7,411.85. The American Stock Exchange composite index gained 11.42, or 0.73 percent, to 1,583.78.

Bonds edged lower as stocks held on to their gains, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.14 percent from 4.10 percent late Monday.

PepsiCo rose 75 cents to $54.60 as sales of its Quaker Foods cereals and products boosted earnings by 13 percent over the previous quarter. The soft drink and snack food company beat Wall Street profit forecasts by 3 cents per share.

Online brokerage Ameritrade Holding Corp. said its earnings rose 20 percent in the latest quarter, meeting analysts' profit estimates, and said it was on track for a record year. Ameritrade added 37 cents to $19.28.