Rise in Oil Prices Heightens Inflation Fears
Wall Street gave up early gains and closed mostly lower Friday after oil prices topped $75 a barrel for the first time, rising $1.48 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.</br></br>The continued gains in oil, gold and bond yields are keeping inflation worries at the forefront, said Ken Tower, chief market strategist for Schwab's CyberTrader. Evidence of economic growth in next week's reports will renew the debate over when the Federal Reserve might stop nudging up the overnight rate.</br></br>"The Fed is going to have a hard time stopping their increases if the economy seems to be gaining strength," Tower said. "I think the Fed will have a very hard time talking down the inflation hawks if the data comes in stronger than expected."</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.56, or 0.04 percent, to 11,347.45, building on Thursday's performance that was its best close since reaching 11,351.30 on Jan. 20, 2000. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 0.18, or 0.01 percent, to 1311.28. The Nasdaq composite index fell 19.69, or 0.83 percent, to 2342.86.</br></br>The major indexes ended the week with gains, mostly from the big advance Tuesday after minutes of the Fed's late March meeting showed the central bank was looking for signs that it could stop its interest rate increases. Inflation data released in subsequent sessions and oil's ascent stifled the market's enthusiasm, but the Dow still rose 1.88 percent for the week, while the S&P 500 rose 1.72 percent, and the Nasdaq gained 0.72 percent.