US STOCKS-Wall St ends flat as energy gains offset sentiment

Fri May 16, 2008 9:48pm BST
 
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* Energy stocks jump as oil sets more record highs

* Consumer confidence falls to lowest in 28 years

* S&P books best weekly percentage gain in about a month

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks finished little changed on Friday as surging oil prices lifted energy shares and offset data that showed consumer confidence sank to its lowest in 28 years.

Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) rose more than 1 percent each, supporting the Dow and S&P 500. Oil prices in New York closed at a record high above $126 on a weakening dollar and a Goldman Sachs forecast that crude would reach $141 per barrel. Earlier, U.S. oil futures hit an intraday record near $128.

The lofty level of oil prices helped drive down other sectors, however. An S&P index of retail shares .RLX was down 1.1 percent.

U.S. consumer confidence tumbled this month, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, as short-term inflation expectations hit their highest since the stagflation era of the early 1980s.  Continued...

 
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