Stocks rise despite high oil prices

New York -- U.S. stock indexes rose Thursday with modest jobless claims and some positive company news offsetting concerns over high oil prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 86.49 points, or 0.65 percent, at 13,378.14 in mid-morning trading. The Nasdaq composite edged up 0.05 of a point to 2,592.12. and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 7.11, or 0.48 percent, at 1,478.67.
Tokyo's Nikkei closed up 0.2 percent at 15,821.19.

Crude-oil futures slipped 37 cents to $79.54 a barrel. Oil surged to an intraday record of $80.18 on the New York Mercantile Wednesday after weekly government inventory data showed an unexpectedly large drawdown in crude stockpiles

Bonds fell. The benchmark 10-year note fell 7/32, or $2.1875 for every $1,000 invested, to yield 4.441 percent Thursday.

The dollar was at 115.11 yen from 114.18 late Wednesday. The euro traded at $1.3872 from $1.3906 late Wednesday.

In economic news, the U.S. Labor Department said jobless claims rose 4,000 to 319,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis last week.

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Copyright 2007 by United Press International.