NEW YORK: Stocks on Wednesday advanced for the first session this week, with oil producers leading the gains as the price of crude settled at a more-than-two-year high above $110 a barrel. Oil escalated on the view that military action against Syria could be coming.
Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. were among the leaders on the Dow Jones industrial average, helping the index rise 48.38 points, or 0.3 percent, at 14,824.51.
With the price of oil surging, Chevron and Exxon Mobil both rallied, the former up 2.5 percent and the latter 2.3 percent. Oil futures rose $1.09, or 1 percent, to $110.10 a barrel.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 4.48 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,634.96. The Nasdaq composite rose 14.83 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,593.35.
PulteGroup Inc. and D.R. Horton Inc. retreated, with shares of PulteGroup off 1.4 percent and those of D.R. Horton slipping 1.2 percent in the wake of an industry report that said pending sales of existing U.S. homes declined 1.3 percent in July.
Stock reaction was muted after the data from the National Association of Realtors. The association’s gauge dropped 0.4 percent in June.
There is little to drive the market until mid-September, with the second-quarter earnings season over and much of the country, including Congress and many investors, on vacation, analysts said.
The Dow industrials are currently positioned for a 4.1 percent monthly drop, leaving the index up more than 13 percent on the year.
“For a variety of reasons that now include Syria, the major market indices are headed for that 8 percent to 10 percent correction that has been widely forecast for most of the summer,” Fred Dickson, chief investment strategist at Davison Cos., said in emailed commentary.
Gold futures fell $1.40 to $1,418.80 an ounce. Newmont Mining Corp. retreated 2.4 percent and Barrick Gold Corp. lost 1.7 percent.
