Investors wait to see earnings from Alcoa

NEW YORK » Stocks closed narrowly mixed yesterday as investors looked past rising oil prices and awaited a sample of first-quarter earnings from Alcoa Inc. after the closing bell.

There were no new economic reports to feed the market's obsession with whether the Federal Reserve will extend its series of interest rate hikes to fight inflation. Recent trading has been skittish amid investors' split opinions on how much growth the economy can manage.

A fresh rise in crude oil pushed futures above $68 a barrel, as the market grew nervous about mounting political tension over Iran's nuclear arms program. A barrel of light crude jumped $1.35 to settle at $68.74 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"I think one of the conundrums the market faces is that we continue to see energy prices go higher," said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst for Jefferies & Co. "It's going to be hard to get the market to rally much this week with oil starting at $68."

Hogan said the weakening bond market may also hinder investors' confidence, but added that Wall Street could see a lift from a solid corporate earnings. Alcoa led the way with a sharply better-than-expected quarterly profit, which augured well for the start of today's session.

At the close of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 21.29, or 0.19 percent, to 11,141.33, after gaining as much as 65 points earlier in the day.

Broader stock indicators were narrowly mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 1.12, or 0.09 percent, to 1,296.62, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 5.75, or 0.25 percent, to 2,333.27.

Investors will get their fill of economic data later this week, when reports on import prices, retail sales and consumer confidence are due. Analysts have said those numbers are critical for assessing how consumers feel about the economy as interest rates and energy prices rise.

But strong earnings in the latest quarter could revive Wall Street's energy since many analysts had set low expectations, said Susan Malley, chief investment officer of Malley Associates Capital Management. General Electric Co. is also scheduled to report results later this week before the earnings season begins in earnest next week.

Aluminum producer Alcoa is considered the first major U.S. firm to post its first-quarter results. The company earned 69 cents per share on $7.24 billion of revenue, topping the average view of 51 cents per share on $7.21 billion in revenue from analysts polled by Thomson Financial. Alcoa rose 33 cents to close $32.83, and gained another $2.27 in after-hours trading.