stock markets

A surge in oil prices sent stocks lower Friday. Markets have been rattled over the past two weeks as higher oil prices threaten to undermine the economic recovery by increasing transportation and production costs.

Stocks leapt higher Thursday as hope builds for job recovery. The signs of job growth followed a report Wednesday from payroll processor ADP saying that private employers added far more jobs than analysts had expected last month.

Stocks closed higher Wednesday following a report from payroll processor ADP said private employers added 217,000 jobs last month, well above the 180,000 analysts had predicted.

Stocks fell Tuesday after oil rose $2.66 to settle at $99.63 a barrel amid unrest in Iran and Libya. Iran clamped down on anti-government protesters and forces loyal to Libya’s leader Moammar Gadhafi launched counter-attacks against rebels expanding control over the country.

Oil prices fell to about $97 a barrel Monday as worries over the global oil market eased after reports that some Libyan ports reopened to oil tankers and Saudi Arabia was boosting exports. The news boosted stock prices.

Stocks recovered Friday after crude oil prices settled at $97.88, down from a high of $103 Thursday but still up 13 percent over the last week. Oil prices have been rising, sending stocks lower.

Stocks slid Thursday as traders worried that fighting could threaten Libya’s oil production and spread to other countries in the region, such as oil-rich Saudi Arabia. Higher oil prices can also slow the U.S. economy by increasing transportation costs.

Stocks fell for a second straight day Wednesday after clashes in Libya sent oil prices to two-year highs and technology giant Hewlett-Packard said its revenue growth was slowing.

Unrest in Libya sent oil prices jumping 6% and rattling the stock markets Tuesday.

With the Dow Jones industrial average’s gain on Friday, the index has lost ground only three days this month.

Stocks pulled higher Thursday after the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its index of manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region nearly doubled between January and February.

Stocks rose Wednesday, driven ahead by news of strong earnings and deal news.

Stocks fell Tuesday after the Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose just 0.3 percent in January, the smallest increase since June and half of what economists had predicted.

Stocks closed mixed Monday after trading in a tight range through the day as investors weighed the impact of President Barack Obama’s $3.73 trillion budget proposal for the next fiscal year.

Stocks rallied Friday after President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt relinquished power. Investors have been concerned during the nearly three weeks of anti-government demonstrations in Egypt that the unrest could spread to countries like Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s biggest exporters of oil.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended an eight-day winning streak Thursday, entirely a result of Cisco’s 14%. Other indexes managed slight gains.

The Dow racked up its eighth straight day of gains Wednesday after major indexes traded lower for much of the day.

Tuesday marked the seventh day in a row that the Dow Jones industrial average posted a gain.

Deal news and positive earnings reports pushed stocks higher Monday.

Stocks shruged off a mixed unemployment report from the Labor Department Friday.

A speech by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke helped push stocks higherThursday.

The Dow traded in a tight range throughout Wednesday as investors weighed the impact of unrest in Egypt against better-than-expected news on the job market.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 12,000 for the first time in two and a half years Tuesday, putting the Great Recession even farther in the rearview mirror and erasing most of the damage it inflicted on tens of millions of retirement accounts.

Stocks were pushed higher after Exxon Mobil Corp. gained 2.1% after it reported its most profitable quarter since 2008. Massey Energy Co. jumped 9.8% after Alpha Natural Resources Inc. said that it would buy the coal producer in a $7.1 billion deal.

The Egyptian government’s response to widespread street protests unnerved investors Friday.

Stocks edged higher Thursday after a series of mixed earnings reports. The Dow Jones industrial average traded above 12,000 for most of the day but failed to close above that level for the second day in a row.

Weak profit forecasts from Boeing Co. and Xerox Corp. weighed on the market, resulting in the Dow slipping after breaking 12,00 on Wednesday.

Stocks ended Tuesday flat after earnings from blue chip companies disappoint.

Rising technology stocks drove stock markets higher Monday after Intel Corp. increased its dividend and said it would buy back more of its stock.

General Electric’s fourth quarter results helped send industrial companies in the Standard and Poor’s 500 index up 1.2% on Friday.

Materials stocks fell Thursday on fears that China’s central bank will increase interest rates to slow down growth and keep inflation in check.

Financial stocks pulled the stock market lower on Wednesday. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Visa Inc. each fell by more than 2%.

Indexes swung between gains and losses earlier in the day. Apple Inc. weighed on the Nasdaq composite index after the company announced that its CEO, Steve Jobs, was taking another medical leave. Apple fell 2.2 percent to $340.65.

Banks took stocks higher on Friday, led by JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

Stocks fell Thursday after the Department said first-time applications for unemployment benefits rose 35,000 from the week before to 445,000. It was the highest level since October and above what economists had predicted.

Stocks spent most of Monday lower ahead of the latest round of corporate earnings reports, especially those of telecoms.

The Labor Department said Friday that employers added 103,000 jobs in December, less than analysts expected. Job growth has remained sluggish in the U.S. since the recession ended in June 2009.

Stocks ended lower Thursday after the Labor Department said that 409,000 people made first-time claims for benefits. That’s up 18,000 from the previous week, when applications fell to their lowest level in more than two years.

Stocks moved slightly higher Wednesday following news that a survey from payroll processor ADP found that private companies added 297,000 jobs last month, nearly triple the number that economists were expecting.

A stock rally paused Tuesday despite even a better-than-expected report on factory orders for November.