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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Stocks managed modest gains Thursday -- led by tech, utilities and retail -- as investors took in stride rising oil prices that closed at a fresh all-time high.
The Nasdaq composite (up 5.46 to 2,134.37, Charts) and the Standard & Poor's 500 (up 2.78 to 1,212.37, Charts) index both added just over 0.2 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average (up 15.76 to 10,450.63, Charts) saw a smaller advance.
Record high oil prices weighed heavily on stocks Wednesday. After such a big decline, the market managed to hold its own Thursday despite fluctuating oil prices.
"People have been worrying about consumer spending being impacted by the price of oil," said John Forelli, portfolio manager at Independence Investments. "Those concerns remain, but today you're seeing less of a sense of panic about it, and that's allowing the market to stabilize."
U.S. light crude oil for October delivery rose 17 cents to settle at $67.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a record closing high. Oil hit a record trading high of $68 a barrel in before-hours trading.
Investors will likely stay focused on the swaying oil market over the next few weeks, analysts said. Trade is likely to remain volatile, due to the low volume and big swings that often plague late August.
The fluctuations in the oil market are bound to continue swaying trade over the next few weeks, analysts said.
"It's a situation where it's late in the summer and it's hard to get any conviction," said John Hughes, market analyst at Shields & Co. "Barring any unforeseen catalysts, we're likely to stay volatile until at least after Labor Day."
Investors will be looking to the University of Michigan's revised reading on consumer sentiment Friday. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com are looking for the index to fall slightly to 92.5 from the initial 92.7.
What moved?
The retail sector, along with utilities and transportation, led the blue chip gainers. Chips and software kept the tech sector in positive territory.
A pair of deals helped provide support, with investors often seeing such developments as a sign of corporate confidence.
Dow component General Electric (down $0.04 to $33.50, Research) agreed to pay $1.55 billion to buy a nearly 26 percent stake in Turkey's third-largest privately owned bank. The move was made to expand GE's consumer finance business overseas.
Among other movers, York International (up $15.04 to $56.79, Research) shot up 36 percent after auto parts maker Johnson Controls (up $2.76 to $59.53, Research) said late Wednesday it would buy the company in a deal valued at about $3.2 billion. Banc of America Securities also said in a research note that the air conditioner maker could attract other bidders.
Theme park operator Six Flags (up $0.72 to $7.26, Research) gained 11 percent after the company's board said it was accepting proposals for a possible sale of the company.
Petsmart (down $3.86 to $24.65, Research) lost 13.5 percent in unusually active Nasdaq trading after the specialty retailer warned that third-quarter earnings would miss forecasts, amid caution about the economy and the outlook for retail.
The warning overshadowed the company's higher-than-expected second-quarter earnings.
TiVo (down $0.94 to $5.18, Research) slumped more than 15 percent after the maker of television recording devices warned that the company would post a net loss in the third quarter as it attempts to increase subscriptions.
The company also reported breakeven results in the second-quarter, versus analysts' forecasts for a loss of 4 cents a share.
Toll Brothers (down $1.90 to $48.10, Research) fell, despite reporting improved earnings. The broader homebuilding sector turned flat, retreating after the previous session's advance.
Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers by more than nine to seven on volume of 1.20 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by eight to seven as 1.33 billion shares changed hands.
In other news, the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell last week to 315,000 from 319,000 the previous week, in line with forecasts.
Treasury prices inched higher, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to about 4.15 percent from 4.16 percent late Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
In currency trading, the dollar was down against the euro and the yen.
COMEX gold rose 90 cents to settle at $443.10 an ounce.
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