U.S. Markets Post Modest Gains As Oil Drops Again

July 23, 2008 5:32 p.m. EST

New York, NY (AHN) - All three major indices oscillated near the flat-line most of Wednesday's session, but were able to finish slightly higher as oil closed below $125 a barrel for the first time in six weeks.

The price of crude oil dropped $3.98, settling at $124.44 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 29.8 points or 0.26 percent. AT&T provided strength as the phone company saw shares rise nearly 4 percent after issuing second quarter earnings that showed a spike in new wireless subscribers, due in part to the new iPhone. Dow components, McDonald's Corp and Pfizer Inc. were also higher on better quarterly results.

The S&P 500 added 5.2 points or 0.41 percent as the financial sector, up 1.9 percent, and consumer discretionary, up 2 percent, offset weakness in the energy sector, down 3.8 percent.

The financial sector did trade up as much as 4.6 percent after the House of Representatives agreed to vote on a bill to aid Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Tech was the largest percentage gainer on Wednesday with the Nasdaq Composite adding 22 points or 0.95 percent.

Along with oil, most commodities were down on the session. Gold shed 3.1 percent, natural gas was down 3.2 percent and the materials sector fell 1.7 percent.

Airlines stocks popped 8.5 percent, sparked by the decline in crude oil prices.

Information out of the Federal Reserve's beige book said that the economy had slowed somewhat since the last report on June 13. In addition, most areas saw increased pricing pressures. The report is created from economic information from 12 districts across the nation.

"Earnings Season" is in full force Wednesday with 110 companies reporting results. Most notably, Amazon, Qualcomm and ConocoPhillips report after the session close.