Ongoing oil slide buoys Wall Street

Stocks continued to advance Monday as Wall Street was buoyed by the continuing slide of oil and receding concerns over inflation''s effect on the economy.

According to the Associated Press, oil hit its lowest level since May before the price per barrel settled at $113.32, with traders apparently setting aside concerns over possible supply disruptions caused by the fighting between Russian and Georgian forces in the Caucuses.

Falling crude prices fuelled investor optimism over consumer spending and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) composite was up 44.93 points in recent trading.

Overall, rising stocks outweighed falling shares by a ratio of three-to-two, the news service said, with companies from sectors that have been hit the hardest by the current economic slowdown posting some of the day''s biggest advances.

Construction firm Beazer Homes was up 24.75 percent, despite posting a loss of $109.8 million for the third quarter of the fiscal year. US Airways was also up, as were online search company RH Donnelly and MoneyGram International.

Jim Hardesty of Hardesty Capital Management said: "I think we look forward to a resumption of an improvement in equity prices based on still-good earnings coming out of many companies."