NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street fluctuated Wednesday, pleased about declining oil prices and Home Depot Inc.'s stock-repurchase plan but hesitant about surging back into record territory as the direction of bond yields remained uncertain.
Wall Street's movements were small as investors kept a cautious eye on Treasury bond yields in the absence of major economic data. The 10-year note's yield was at 5.12 percent by midday, down from 5.13 percent in earlier trading but still up from 5.09 percent late Tuesday.
High rates could slow down business, but many investors are optimistic that the 10-year yield will hold at current levels rather than spike back to 5.30 percent as it did briefly last week.
'The recent pullback has led to a bit of stabilization in the marketplace,' said Larry Peruzzi, senior equity trader at the Boston Asset Management Co., a division of Mellon Financial.
He added that Home Depot's $22.5 billion buyback Wednesday gave the market a positive tilt, as did stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings from Morgan Stanley and a retreat in oil prices after the Energy Department reported U.S. crude and gasoline inventories rose last week.
Home Depot, one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones industrial average, said it will buy back more than a quarter of its shares and sell its Home Depot Supply business to a group of private equity firms for $10.3 billion. The decisions are not only likely to increase the retailer's profit, they also bolster the idea that stocks, despite their big run-up this year, have further to climb.
Cutting the number of shares outstanding typically lifts a company's stock price, because less stock on the market raises the value of each share, and it makes key ratios such as earnings per share look stronger.
In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.24, or less than 0.01 percent, to 13,635.66, bouncing in and out of positive and negative territory throughout the morning. The blue chip index is about 40 points below its record close of 13,676.32, reached June 4.
Broader stock indicators were lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 3.22, or 0.21 percent, at 1,530.48 -- below its record close hit June 4 of 1,539.18 -- and the Nasdaq composite index fell 0.28, or 0.01 percent, to 2,626.48.
Light, sweet crude futures tumbled $1.66 to $67.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and gasoline futures also retreated. The goverment said Wednesday in its weekly inventory report that crude oil stockpiles rose 6.9 million barrels last week and gasoline stockpiles rose 1.8 million barrels -- alleviating some concerns about supplies being too tight during the summer driving season. Lower energy prices could mean easing inflation.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Overseas, Germany's DAX index rose 0.71 percent to an all-time high, its first record close since March 7, 2000. Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.26 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.01 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.36 percent.
Home Depot rose $2.61, or 6.8 percent, to $40.88 after announcing its buyback.
Morgan Stanley rose $1.54 to $89.34. The second-largest U.S. investment bank posted a 39 percent rise in second-quarter profit compared to a year ago, thanks to fees from stock trading and advising clients on acquisitions.
Another positive piece of earnings news was FedEx Corp.'s report that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 7 percent, boosted by an 8 percent increase in revenue and higher package volumes. FedEx rose $2.02 to $110.08.
But adding to concerns that consumer spending could be waning, electronics chain Circuit City Stores Inc. posted its largest loss ever for its fiscal first quarter. Circuit City rose 5 cents to $16.12, a day after rival Best Buy Co. lowered its profit forecast.
MGM Mirage tumbled $5.44, or 6.3 percent, to $81.06 after billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's investment arm said it was ending discussions to potentially buy the casino operator's Bellagio hotel-casino and CityCenter project.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 716.3 million shares.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.62, or 0.43 percent, to 844.72.
Wednesday was light on U.S. economic data, though several Federal Reserve officials have planned speeches during the session. Thursday will bring the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims report, the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's June index of business activity.
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