Stocks close mixed in lackluster trading

A light trading day on Wall Street closed with slight gains for major stock indexes.

With oil prices reaching a 30-month high of $108.47 a barrel, some investors are waiting for Alcoa Inc. to report its first quarter earnings next Monday, the unofficial start of the earnings season, before making any big moves. Traders are hoping to see how rising gas prices and other commodity costs are affecting corporate profits.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 23.31 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,400.03. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained less than a point to 1,332.87. Materials companies gained 0.7 percent, the most of any of the 10 company groups that make up the S&P 500 index, as commodity prices increased. Futures contracts for corn, wheat and sugar each rose more than 2 percent.

The Nasdaq composite lost less than a point to 2,789.19.

In company news, Pfizer, the world's largest drugmaker, said it would it sell its capsule-making Capsugel unit to an affiliate of private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for $2.4 billion in cash. -- AP