Stocks ended mixed on Thursday, as a nearly $6 spike in oil prices lifted energy stocks but depressed many other areas of the market. Light sweet crude oil for October delivery rose as much as $6.48 a barrel during the session before retreating slightly to $121.18, a rise of $5.62 from the previous day. Crude spiked due to several factors, including increased political tensions with Russia, concerns about a possible U.S. recession, and a weaker U.S. dollar, which fell Thursday against both the euro and the yen. In U.S. economic news, the leading indicators index tumbled 0.7 percent in July, and the number of Americans filing jobless claims last week fell by more than expected. In general, financial shares fell modestly to due continuing worries about a possible government takeover of mortgage-finance giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, as well as concerns about the solvency of Lehman Brothers. Airline stocks plunged in response to the rise in oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.78, or 0.1 percent, to 11,430.21. Exxon Mobil and Chevron gained on the oil-price spike, helping to offset big losses from AIG, Intel, and Coca-Cola. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.18, or 0.25 percent, to 1,277.72. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 8.70, or 0.4 percent, to 2,380.38. JDS Uniphase lost 14 percent in active trading after the communications gear maker posted a bigger fourth-quarter loss than analysts had expected. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 37.23 to 8,314.14. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 27.21 to 2,090.59. And the Russell 2000 index fell 6.35 to 725.25.
