Investors Brush Off Oil Prices -- for a Day

NEW YORK, Aug. 11 -- Investors generally put aside concerns about rising oil prices Thursday and the market gained on a rally late in the day.

The major stock indicators gained ground in the final two hours of the trading session, even after the price of oil briefly passed $66 a barrel. It closed at $65.80, up 90 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

But the ups and downs in stock prices seen Thursday, after a sell-off Wednesday, reflect persistent worries by investors that, despite strong corporate earnings and upbeat economic reports, oil prices will eventually exact a toll.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 91.48, or 0.86 percent, at 10,685.89.

Broader stock indicators also closed higher. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 8.68, or 0.71 percent, to 1237.81, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 16.74, or 0.78 percent, to 2174.55.

The market showed Thursday that investors are still torn between concerns that more expensive oil will inevitably hurt consumer spending and corporate profits and evidence that the economy is coping well with higher oil prices.

A report released Wednesday showing a decline in U.S. gasoline inventories drove fears about supply. It heightened concerns that refinery shutdowns will make it difficult for refiners to meet peak summer demand. Those concerns were tempered by a report from the International Energy Agency forecasting slower global oil demand growth in 2005.

Movers

Intel fell 6 cents, to $26.82 after it was downgraded by Goldman Sachs.

Target rose 11 cents, to $55.65. The retailer's second-quarter profit was down sharply, but sales were better than had been expected.

Whirlpool fell 83 cents, to $80.70. Whirlpool on Wednesday raised its bid for rival Maytag to $1.79 billion.

Maytag fell 21 cents, to $18.79.