Economy Briefs

WALL STREET

Stocks edge higher; oil hits new 30-month high

NEW YORK | 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 a barrel, some investors are waiting for Alcoa Inc. to report its first quarter earnings on 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 S&P 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.

AUTO

Toyota to shut North American plants

LOUISVILLE, Ky. | A Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman said it’s inevitable that the company will have to shut down its North American factories because of shortages of parts from Japan.

Spokesman Mike Goss said the shutdowns are likely to take place later this month, affecting about 25,000 workers. But he said no layoffs are expected.

He said the length of the shutdowns is unknown and depends on how fast earthquake-damaged Japanese parts factories get back in operation.

Toyota gets about 15 percent of its parts from Japan for cars and trucks built in North America.

The company has more than a dozen North American factories.

Mr. Goss made the comments Monday before an appearance in Louisville by Toyota’s head of North American operations.

• From wire dispatches and staff reports