Business Highlights

NEW YORK (AP)--Wall Street closed mostly lower Tuesday after a dip in oil prices failed to keep investors from fretting over the economic consequences of steep energy costs.

Crude oil's retreat below $132 a barrel did encourage some investors to search for bargains in stocks created by recent plunges. The financial sector, for one, saw strong demand after taking a beating Monday when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss.

But the overall stock market was volatile, with investors flummoxed about the direction of the economy and worried about the possibility of future interest rate hikes.

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Trade deficit jumps to highest level in 13 months

WASHINGTON (AP)--The trade deficit soared to the highest level in more than a year as an improvement in exports was swamped by record-high levels of imported crude oil. The deficit with China also rose sharply.

The gap between what the nation imports and what it sells abroad rose by 7.8 percent in April to $60.9 billion, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. It was the largest imbalance since March 2007.

The higher deficit was driven by a $4.3 billion increase in crude oil imports, which jumped to a record $29.3 billion in April, as the average per-barrel price rose to an all-time high of $96.81.

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