Stocks end mixed on rising oil, financial worries

NEW YORK — Wall Street closed 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.

"It's remarkable how well the market has held up," said Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist for The Hartford, referring to the performance of stocks in the face of a jump in oil. She said the gains by the energy sector helped corral selling pressure on a day of light volume, which can lead to volatility.

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.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.84 percent from 3.80 percent late Wednesday.

Gold prices jumped as the dollar moved lower against other major currencies.

Light, sweet crude surged $5.62 to settle at $121.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Stocks recovered after oil retreated from a session high of $122.04 — a trading level not seen since Aug. 4.

While oil prices remain well off their July 11 high of $147.27, any rebound can be worrisome because inflation readings this week and last week showed prices rose for consumers and businesses at a faster pace than expected.

Investors responded to Thursday's climb in oil by sending shares of energy companies higher. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. showed the strongest performance among the 30 stocks that make up the Dow industrials. Exxon rose $1.54, or 2 percent, to $80.35, while Chevron rose $2.06, or 2.4 percent, to $88.52.