Rising oil, commodity prices pull stocks up

NEW YORK (AP) — Investors are seeing a jump in oil as reason to snap up stocks in the final days of the second quarter.

Energy, industrial and materials stocks pulled the market higher in light trading Monday as investors looked to put money into areas that would benefit from an economic recovery.

Crude rose $2.33 to settle at $71.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after China said it would boost oil reserves and Nigerian militants partly shut down an offshore oil platform.

Stocks rose sharply after seesawing in the early going.

After running the market up more than 30 percent since March on a litany of “less bad” economic data, investors have become more cautious about the pace of the economy’s recovery in recent weeks and are looking for more concrete signs of growth.

With the quarter’s end coming up today, some money managers were buying stocks bolster their returns.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 16.2 percent since the start of the April-June quarter.

“I think there might be a little bit of quarter-end of window dressing going on,” said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners LLC in New York.

He also said that the jump in crude oil is helping to support the overall market.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 90.99, or 1.1 percent, to 8,529.38.

The S&P 500 index rose 8.33, or 0.9 percent, to 927.23, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.84, or 0.3 percent, to 1,844.06.

Stocks ended last week mixed.

There was little economic news Monday but the week, which is abbreviated by the Independence Day holiday on Friday, brings key data that will give investors a better sense of where the economy is headed.

Doreen Mogavero, president of Mogavero, Lee & Co., said the market likely will trade in a tight range as investors await a clearer signal on the economy.

“We want to see if things really are getting better,” Mogavero said.

Of particular importance is the government’s monthly employment report, due Thursday.

Though considered a lagging indicator of the country’s economic health, the unemployment rate is still one of the most closely watched gauges of the economy.

The labor market is intricately tied to many facets of the economy, including consumer spending.

Investors will also get readings on consumer confidence and manufacturing this week.

The Dow is up 30.3 percent from a 12-year low on March 9, though it has fallen 3.1 percent from a five-month high on June 12.

The blue chips are now down only 2.8 percent in 2009.