Stocks on Wall Street Make Way Higher

Updated from 11:04 a.m. EDT

With oil prices taking a slight detour south, stocks got a modest midday boost Monday even as worries that dragged the market down last week remained in place.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 82 points at 11,429, and the S&P 500 was adding 11 points to 1290. The Nasdaq was climbing 5 points at 2321.

On Friday, the indices marked a lackluster finish as concerns about the health of financial firms including Merrill Lynch (MER Quote) and Citigroup (C Quote), as well as record crude oil prices, contributed to the selloff.

Oil was in focus again at the start of the new, holiday-shortened week. Crude for August delivery was recently down 28 cents at $139.93, after earlier passing the $143 mark to reach a new all-time high. Investors remain nervous about potential disruption of the Iranian oil supply as tensions mount over its nuclear program. Gasoline prices rose to $4.086 a gallon from $4.079. Gold was down $8.30 at $923.

The early advance in crude had energy stocks trading higher, though the strength in the group was mitigated somewhat as oil pulled back. BP Amoco (BP Quote) and Chesapeake Energy (CHK Quote) were each gaining at least 2%.

Elsewhere in commodities, the Department of Agriculture said that this year's corn crop will be 6.3 million acres leaner than last year's thanks in part to flooding in the Midwest. Corn futures rose to $7.55 a bushel.

Hand-wringing over the financial sector continued as Wall Street trading got underway. Ladenburg Thalman analyst Dick Bove said Merrill will be forced to raise capital for the third quarter and may have to sell a portion of its stake in Bloomberg. Bove slashed his 2008 earnings estimate for the brokerage to a loss of $1.64 a share vs. his previous forecast of $1.37. He also cut his profit estimates for Morgan Stanley (MS Quote).