U.S. Markets Post Modest Gains As Energy Stocks Rally

New York, NY (AHN) - Markets were volatile on Wednesday but finished higher as light weekly oil inventories data helped spark a rally in energy stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial average added 38 points or 0.34 percent. Declining components outpaced advancers but a 6 percent move higher in General Motors and 3 percent move in Chevron helped the Dow post a gain for the session.

The S&P 500 rose 7 points or 0.6 percent. Eight of 10 major economic sectors rose on Wednesday. The metal & mining stocks caught a nice bounce, adding roughly 5 percent. Oil & gas stocks, up 4 percent provided strength to the S&P 500 as well.

Casino stocks sold off after the release of July gaming data showed a 13 percent drop in the amount Las Vegas casinos won compared to the month before. The industry was down 5 percent on the session.

Tech stocks rebounded a bit with the Nasdaq Composite posted the largest percentage gain of the three major indices. The Nasdaq added 19 points or 0.85 percent as the big cap tech names led the way. The Nasdaq 100 added roughly 1 percent as Research in Motion provided a pop, up 5.3 percent on Wednesday as excitement builds for the upcoming release of their blackberry flip-phone.

The financial sector went for a ride as investors began to digest third quarter results and restructuring plans from Lehman Brothers. The investment bank reported a $4 billion third quarter loss and said it will auction of 55 percent of its investment management business. Lehman will also spin of a large chunk of real estate assets into a new company to be named Real Estate Investments Global. Financials finished down 0.7 percent.

Crude oil finished the session relatively unchanged at $103.15 a barrel as the commodity failed to rally on the bullish inventories data. Oil reserves were down 6.5 million barrels for the week, much larger than the 4.5 million economists expected due to the shutdown in the Gulf Coast during Gustav.

Thursday's session will see the release of initial unemployment claims for the week ending Sept 6.