Aug 21, 2008 3:48 pm US/Central
Stocks End Mixed On Rising Oil, Financial Woes
NEW YORK (AP) ―
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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (File)
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Wall Street ended mixed Thursday after investors largely shrugged off a jump in oil prices and focused instead on a bullish analyst call on Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. that eased worries about the financial sector.
Stocks ended off their lows of the session after a Ladenburg Thalmann analyst raised his rating on Lehman to "buy," saying he believes the nation's fourth-biggest investment bank has become a "hostile takeover candidate." That call helped ease concerns about that company as well as the financial sector, which has been hit by a spike in bad mortgage debt.
The partial recovery in financials as well as gains by energy producers themselves helped contain investors' anxiety over a jump in oil of more than $5 a barrel. Prices rose as investors questioned whether rising tensions with Russia could disrupt energy shipments from the world's second-largest oil producer. Often an uptick in oil will fan Wall Street's fears of inflation.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.78, or 0.11 percent, to 11,430.21. The Dow managed a moderate gain on Wednesday after heavy losses the first two days of the week.
Broader stock indicators ended mixed Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.18, or 0.25 percent, to 1,277.72, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 8.70, or 0.36 percent, to 2,380.38.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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