Stocks wavered Wednesday as crude oil prices traded near $104 a barrel on the two-year anniversary of the start of the fastest bull market since the 1950s, The Associated Press reports.
Stocks hit 12-year lows on March 9, 2009, dragged down by the financial crisis. The S&P 500 index, the benchmark for most U.S. mutual funds, has had a total return of 102 percent since then, including dividends. It was the best two-year period for the index since 1955.
The Dow Jones industrial average of 30 large U.S. companies moved between small gains and losses. It was down 13 at 12,201 in afternoon trading.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 1 point, or 0.1 percent, to 1,320. The Nasdaq lost 13, or 0.5 percent, to 2,752.
Crude oil prices traded above $105 a barrel in the morning, then dropped after a report showed U.S. crude oil supplies were rising. Crude traded close to $107 Monday, the highest level since September 2008.
The conflict in Libya has raised concerns about a drop in oil production, causing a surge in crude prices and weighing on markets. Oil prices have jumped about $20 per barrel since mid-February when the Libyan uprising started.
Libya accounts for only 2 percent of global oil output. But the worry is that uprisings that have toppled governments in Tunisia and Egypt will spread to larger oil producing countries like Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter.
IBM Corp. gained 2.3 percent after analysts at Deutsche Bank and other brokerages raised their forecasts for the company’s stock price.
Bon-Ton Stores Inc. jumped 10 percent. The department store chain said its profit climbed six percent as sales open at least a year improved.
Texas Instruments Inc. dropped 3 percent. After the market closed Tuesday, the company narrowed its sales and profit estimates for the current quarter. Demand for chips for televisions and personal computers remained weak.
H&R Block Inc., the country’s largest tax preparation company, will report quarterly results after the market closes. The company has already said it expects to post a decline in profit and revenue because of slow start to the tax filing season.
Banks led the market higher Tuesday after Bank of America’s chief executive, Brian Moynihan, told an investor’s meeting that the bank may earn more money over the next two years as its business stabilizes. Moynihan said he was intent on rewarding the bank’s shareholders, raising expectations that banks would raise their dividends.
