Oil prices' slight dip welcomed

NEW YORK — Wall Street steadied itself Thursday after two sessions of steep declines, rebounding moderately as oil prices stepped back from their frenetic upward run.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 24.43 to 12,625.62.

Microsoft, one of the 30 Dow stocks, added 22 cents to close at $28.47 a share. Boeing, also a Dow stock, gained 22 cents to end at $81.41.

Broader stock indicators also moved higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.64 to 1,394.35, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 16.31 to 2,464.58.

Oil set another trading record overnight — moving above $135 a barrel for the first time — then pulled back below $131, offering some relief for investors. Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the number of workers seeking unemployment benefits declined by 9,000 last week to 365,000. The market expected a slight increase.

But the economic fallout from ascendant energy prices remained Wall Street's focus.

"People are concerned about the economy and what's happening with oil," said Scott Fullman, director of derivatives-investment strategy for WJB Capital Group in New York, referring to the advance in stocks.

Fullman said the low trading volumes indicate the gains are coming without much conviction.

The modest rise in stocks followed a decline in the Dow that totaled about 427 points, or 3.3 percent, over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday. It was the steepest two-day loss since late February.