Stocks finish mixed after oil price spikes

NEW YORK Wall Street capped a week of big gains with modest moves yesterday. Investors grappled with surging energy prices that overshadowed news of a surprise increase in home construction. Investors hoping for an economic rebound in the second half of the year and searching for signs that the housing market is bottoming got some relief before the market opened: the Commerce Department's report that home construction jumped 8.2 percent in April.

But investors were clearly sidetracked for much of the session by energy prices and their effect on consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. The price of a barrel of oil spiked yesterday to new highs.

The market's concerns appeared well-founded, with news that the continuing rise in energy and food costs is weighing on the mood of consumers. The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading fell to 59.5 in May -- the weakest reading since June 1980.

Despite the uneasiness over energy prices, stocks posted strong gains for the week.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index, rose 2.7 percent for the week. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.89 percent and the Nasdaq composite index jumped 3.41 percent for the week.

"I think oil is still the worrying wild card in all of this, but the central theme of this year is that we are gradually moving from the credit storm to the economic storm," said David Kelly, chief market strategist at JPMorgan Funds. "At this stage the economic storm is essentially getting downgraded from a hurricane to a nor'easter."