Shares rallied in New York yesterday despite rising oil prices as retail stocks rose on better-than-expected results from Wal-Mart.

Stocks stalled in early trade as investors returning to work after the Fourth of July holiday had to consider the immediate impact of oil creeping back up towards $60 a barrel after sliding from a record high set last Monday. The price of crude oil for August delivery climbed $1.20 to $59.95 a barrel on the Nymex market in the wake ofwas lifted by news of a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico that could disrupt fuel supplies.