U.S. Markets Stage Late Rally To Finish Higher

June 12, 2008 5:44 p.m. EST

New York, NY (AHN) - U.S. markets gave back big early gains to trade slightly negative coming into the last half hour of trading. Buyers were active coming into the close, though, as all three major indices saw late rallies to finish higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished higher by 58 points or 0.5 percent while the S&P 500 added 4 points or 0.3 percent. Tech had a gain with the Nasdaq Composite finishing 10 points or 0.4 percent higher.

Markets opened higher Thursday with oil slipping and positive retail sales numbers providing a spark. Financials saw early buying as Morgan Stanley (MS) upgraded the sector; financials gained more than 2 percent on the day. JPMorgan (JMP) led the way with a 2.4 percent gain to close at $38.01.

Oil prices shed as much as 3 percent in intraday trading but went into rally mode Thursday afternoon to close higher 59 cents a barrel at $136.97. Even with the reversal in oil, the energy sector still finished lower 1.8 percent.

Initial jobless claims data also helped quell any market rally attempts as 384,000 new claims were made for the week ending June 7. The market had expected 370,000.

The May CPI number will be released at 8:30 a.m. Friday morning. With inflation now a concern, the data should set the tone for the market open.