Market accommodates oil worries

NEW YORK – Stocks finished an uneven session mixed Friday as investors grappled with the implications of a terrorist attack against a Saudi Arabian oil processing plant and a surprising decrease in factory orders. The major indexes also ended the week mixed.

Before the market opened, news reports said two explosives-laden cars attempted to destroy a plant in Buqayq. Although officials said the flow of oil was not halted, the news sent oil prices higher, with a barrel of light crude settling at $62.91, up $2.37, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The bombing news came as investors weighed a sharp drop in big-ticket factory orders. The Commerce Department said durable goods orders fell 10.2 percent in January, the biggest drop in 51/2 years and far greater than the 0.2 percent decrease economists expected.

With energy prices rising and the economy slowing, investors’ fears of greater inflation and the Federal Reserve’s rate increases to combat it have pressured stocks all week. Yet despite the news, analysts were pleased that the markets managed any gains.

“One of the most important signs of a bull market is when the bull market manages very, very bad news like we’ve had today,” said Hugh Johnson, chairman and chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors. “So in that sense, you’ve got a very encouraging performance today.”

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 7.37, or 0.07 percent, to 11,061.85.

Broader stock indicators closed modestly higher. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.64, or 0.13 percent, to 1,289.43, while the Nasdaq composite index gained 7.72, or 0.34 percent, to 2,287.04.

•The Dow Jones industrials ended the week down 53.47, or 0.48 percent, finishing at 11,061.85. The S&P 500 index added 2.19, or 0.17 percent, to close at 1,289.43.

•The Nasdaq rose 4.68, or 0.21 percent, to end at 2,287.04.

•The Russell 2000 index closed the week up 5.66, or 0.77 percent, at 736.60.

•The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index – a free-float weighted index that measures 5,000 U.S. based companies – ended the week at 13,010.58, up 39.01 points from last week. A year ago, the index was 11,934.05.