Lower oil prices help drive stocks up slightly

A drop in oil prices and strong bond auctions in Europe drove stocks to a slightly higher close Thursday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose for the fourth straight day.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 21 points. It was down most of the day, losing 64 points in the first hour of trading, after a surge in unemployment claims and a weak report on December retail sales.

Materials and industrial companies led winners. Caterpillar and Alcoa rose the most in the Dow.

Stocks drove higher in the last hour and a half of trading after oil prices dropped below $100 per barrel for the first time this year. Oil fell on rumors that Europe will delay an embargo on Iran.

Also pushing stocks were strong bond auctions in Italy and Spain. European markets ended mostly higher after the highly successful bond auctions.

Chevron fell 2.6% after the world’s second-largest publicly traded oil company said its income would be “significantly” below its fourth-quarter results in the prior quarter because of narrower margins.

Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. rose after a report that the world’s second-biggest airline may try to buy American Airlines parent AMR Corp. The Wall Street Journal reported that Delta and buyout firm TPG were separately looking at AMR, which filed for bankruptcy.