Pro Kristovy Drahe Rany

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Re: Pro Kristovy Drahe Rany

NEW YORK — Wall Street ended a grueling first half quietly Monday, closing mixed as investors again based their trades on what has become the dominant force in the market: the price of oil.

The major indexes closed out the first six months of 2008 with double-digit declines and are perilously close to the levels of a bear market.

This was the worst first half for the Dow Jones industrials since 1970, when the country fell into recession. The more diverse Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq composite indexes had their worst first half since 2002, when Wall Street was still suffering through the aftermath of the dot-com bust, the 9/11 terror attacks and a recession.

On Monday, stocks pulled back in the early going as oil reached yet another record, this time, above $143 a barrel. The market then gathered some strength as crude lost momentum and allowed some investors to consider buying equities that have been turned into bargains by months of volatility.