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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Stocks mixed on new oil record

Associated Press

Wall Street showed some resilience Friday, closing mixed even as oil prices settled at a new high and raised more concerns about inflation. The Nasdaq composite index fell to a four-month low on weakness in semiconductor stocks, and all three indexes finished the week lower.

With analysts warning that oil prices could pressure profits — and Continental Airlines Inc. coming out with drastically lower earnings estimates due to costlier jet fuel — investors were faced with the task of adjusting their portfolios to the new economic realities. Oil prices climbed higher, with a barrel of light crude settling at a record $56.72, up 32 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

“Even if we were to see a quick pullback in oil, I don’t think that’ll reverse the trend, and there are still some negative implications for the market,” said Chris Johnson, manager of quantitative analysis at Schaeffer’s Investment Research in Cincinnati. “I think you’ll start to see companies, like the airlines, fessing up to the fact that these oil prices are going to hurt.”

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.32, or 0.03 percent, to 10,629.67. The Dow had fallen more than 69 points in late trading before recovering.

Broader stock indicators lost ground. The Nasdaq composite index lost 8.63, or 0.43 percent, to 2,007.79, its worst finish since Nov. 3. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 0.56, or 0.05 percent, at 1,189.65.

Trading was very brisk as mutual funds tracking the S&P 500 adjusted their holdings. The index was rebalanced to more accurately reflect the number of shares of each company available in the market. It was also “quadruple witching day” on Wall Street, in which investors cash in options and futures contracts and many decide to offer or accept new ones, all of which may have accounted for the rise in stock prices by the end of the day.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than 7 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, where preliminary consolidated volume came to 2.78 billion shares, compared with 1.99 billion on Thursday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 2.96, or 0.46 percent, at 622.50.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.89 percent. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.02 percent, France’s CAC-40 climbed 0.46 percent for the session, and Germany’s DAX index gained 0.26 percent.