US: Stocks rise with petroleum shares gaining

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks finished modestly higher Friday with petroleum-linked stocks posting strong gains, even as worries about earnings cut into gains.

Near the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17,578.19, up 36.23 points (0.21 per cent), about 120 points below its session peak.

The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 5.73 (0.28 per cent) to 2,047.64, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.32 (0.05 per cent) to 4,850.69.

US oil prices rose about 6.6 per cent, lifting petroleum producers like Chevron and Anadarko Petroleum, up 1.6 per cent and 5.6 per cent, respectively.

But the broader market weakened late in the session, likely "due to investors taking some money off the table before earnings season," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standards Financial.

AFP