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Among the sector activity stories for Wednesday, Dec. 10, from AP Financial News:

CHICAGO (AP) - Shares of the nation's office suppliers rose Wednesday after Office Depot Inc. (nyse: ODP - news - people ) said it would eliminate 2,200 jobs and close 112 stores in a cost-cutting effort.

NEW YORK (AP) - An FBR Capital Markets (nasdaq: FBCM - news - people ) analyst said Wednesday that Apple Inc. (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people )'s production cutbacks appear to be slackening, in a welcome sign for the company's parts suppliers.

NEW YORK (AP) - Airlines stocks fluctuated Wednesday as the broader markets rose but oil prices also increased.

NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of online travel companies Orbitz Worldwide (nyse: OWW - news - people ) Inc. and Expedia Inc. (nasdaq: EXPE - news - people ) edged lower Wednesday as an analyst said deteriorating travel trends and poor visibility are concerns for both online travel companies.

NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of drybulk shipping companies rose strongly Wednesday on signs that ships may be moving again and rates for the vessels are rising.

NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of credit-card lenders and processors moved slightly lower Wednesday as analysts worried about recent data indicating consumers are pulling out the plastic less frequently as the economy continues to weaken.

Oil prices rose Wednesday as a large interest rate cut in China and news of a possible Russian output cut appeared to counter another round of dour economic news and larger-than-expected crude stockpiles in the U.S.

Trading was very volatile, continuing a week of huge price swings from day to day.

There were no such swings for retail gasoline, however. As many Americans hit the road for Thanksgiving, pump prices fell again overnight to a national average of $1.868 for regular unleaded, according to auto club AAA. It marked the lowest price since January 2005.

The average national price has fallen 80 cents in just the past month and is down 40 percent from a year ago -- a rare bright spot for consumers in an otherwise dire economy.

"Of course, prices could go even lower than this, but this would tend to imply a far deeper global economic slowdown than we're currently experiencing and probably signal the arrival of a period of extreme economic adjustment as homes, factories and transportation systems reduce energy consumption," said AAA fuel price analyst Geoff Sundstrom.

In Nymex trading, light, sweet crude for January delivery jumped more than 5 percent, or $2.75 to $53.52 a barrel. The contract overnight fell $3.73 to settle at $50.77 after the U.S. said its gross domestic product shrank 0.5 percent in the third quarter, worse than previously estimated.

Buoyed by a surging Wall Street that reacted to news of a government bailout for Citigroup, oil prices climbed 9 percent Monday, then gave back much of the gain Tuesday amid more lousy economic news.

Crude's rebound Wednesday was not unexpected, some analysts said, noting the holiday week and relatively low trading volumes on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"This has always been a very difficult week in which to generate a trend, and traders tend to be getting out of positions more than getting into them," the firm Cameron Hanover said in its Daily Energy Hedger report Wednesday.

Crude initially gave back early gains Wednesday after a new government inventory report showed far more crude and gasoline in storage than was expected.

For the week ended Nov. 21 crude inventories jumped by 7.3 million barrels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report. Analysts had expected a boost of only 400,000 barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

Gasoline inventories rose by 1.9 million barrels. Analysts expected stockpiles to rise by only 300,000 barrels. Demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended Nov. 21 was 2.8 percent lower than a year earlier, averaging about 9 million barrels a day.

But in a report released a day early because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the EIA said natural gas storage levels fell more than expected last week and are 3.1 percent below the year-ago average.

In its weekly report, the government said natural gas inventories held in underground storage in the lower 48 states dropped by 66 billion cubic feet to about 3.42 trillion cubic feet for the week ending Nov. 21. Analysts had expected a drop of between 43 billion and 48 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts.

In equities trading, Wall Street extended its gains into a fourth session Wednesday as investors digested mixed economic readings on jobless claims, orders for big-ticket items and personal spending.

Among the reports, the Labor Department said initial requests for unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 529,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised figure of 543,000. That is lower than analysts' expectations of 537,000. Still, the initial claims remain at recessionary levels.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods plunged in October by the largest amount in two years as the economy weakened. The 6.2 percent drop was more than double the 3 percent decline economists expected.

The Commerce Department also said Americans cut back on their spending in October by the largest amount since the 2001 terrorist attacks. Consumer spending plunged by 1 percent last month, even worse than the 0.9 percent decline that had been expected.

Overseas, China's biggest interest rate cut in 11 years -- and the fourth in three months -- was expected to lead to increased demand for oil.

"This could help speed up the Chinese economy's recovery from the current slowdown and therefore encouraging for oil demand growth in the future," said a report from Sucden Research in London.

Also affecting prices was news that Russia, one the world's largest crude producers, may join OPEC in output cuts, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said in New Delhi on Tuesday, Press Trust of India news agency reported.

JBC Energy in Vienna noted that it's been nearly seven years since non-OPEC oil exporters Russia, Norway and Mexico last made coordinated moves to cut output.

In London, January Brent crude rose $1.72 cents to $52.07 on the ICE Futures exchange.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures rose 5.26 cents to $1.1525 a gallon. Heating oil gained 4.78 cents to $1.7466 a gallon while natural gas for January delivery jumped 37.6 cents to $6.762 per 1,000 cubic feet.

New jobless claims fell more than expected last week from a 16-year high, the government said Wednesday, though they remain at elevated levels due to the slowing economy.

The Labor Department reported that initial requests for unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 529,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised figure of 543,000. That is lower than analysts' expectations of 537,000.

Despite the improved number, initial claims remain at recessionary levels. The four-week average, which smooths out fluctuations, rose to 518,000, its highest level since January 1983, when the economy was emerging from a steep recession.

The number of people continuing to claim unemployment insurance also dropped unexpectedly to 3.96 million, down from the previous week's 4.02 million, which was the highest level in 25 years. The labor market has grown by about half since 1983.

Economists consider jobless claims a timely, if volatile, sign of how fast companies are laying off workers. Employees who quit or are fired for cause are not eligible for benefits.

The economy has been hit hard in recent months by the housing slump and the broader financial crisis, which have led consumers and businesses to cut back on spending.

Higher unemployment could lead to a downward spiral, as laid-off workers are more likely to fall behind on mortgage payments and other debt. Those who remain employed also may become more conservative in their spending.

Wall Street headed toward a lower open Wednesday, as investors try to assess how bad the global economic slump is and worry about the trend in consumer spending.

The market, which fell for the second-straight session on Tuesday, will get an update from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on the government's financial rescue package at 10:30 a.m. EST. There are no major economic reports due to be released during the session.

There was fresh evidence that the financial crisis is causing consumers to tighten their purse strings.

Department store operator Macy's Inc. reported a loss of $44 million for the third quarter as results were weighed down by charges related to a consolidation of several divisions. The consumer electronics chain Best Buy Co. cut 2009 guidance on fears that consumer spending will erode even further.

A big drop in consumer spending is a major concern since it drives more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy. Investors are also awaiting the government's retail sales figures on Friday and earnings from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Thursday.

Battered shares of the top U.S. automakers might again come under pressure. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants Congress to support a financial bailout for the troubled U.S. auto industry, which is suffering under the weight of poor sales, tight credit and a sputtering economy.

President-elect Obama, when he met with President Bush at the White House on Monday, urged Bush to support aid for struggling automakers, and Democrats in Congress have begun drafting legislation that would give General Motors, Ford and Chrysler access to $25 billion of the rescue funds.

Dow futures shed 59, or 0.69 percent, to 8,578. Standard & Poor's 500 futures dropped 4.60, or 0.52 percent, to 888.40. Nasdaq 100 index futures stumbled 10.20, or 0.84 percent, to 1,212.80.

On Tuesday, the Dow fell nearly 180 points as it became clearer to investors that it's going to be hard to rely on the average consumer to pull the economy out of its downturn. The market also closed lower amid similar concerns on Monday.

Government bond prices, which did not trade Tuesday because of Veterans Day, moved higher as investors looked for safer investments. The three-month Treasury bill's yield fell to 0.21 percent from 0.22 percent late Monday, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.74 percent from 3.76 percent late Monday.

Lower yields indicate stronger demand.

Crude slipped below $59 a barrel Wednesday on the growing realization that global economic growth next year will slow more than originally feared, cutting demand for crude products such as gasoline. Light, sweet crude was down 85 cents to $58.48 a barrel, after earlier falling as low as $58.55, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In corporate news, American Express Co. is said to be seeking about $3.5 billion from the U.S. government to help boost its balance sheet, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the situation. AmEx, the No. 4 U.S. credit card issuer, won approval Monday from the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company.

Prudential Financial Inc. said late Tuesday its 2008 annual dividend will be roughly half of what it paid out to shareholders last year. The insurer said it will pay a dividend of 58 cents per share on Dec. 19 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 24. Last year, the company paid a dividend of $1.15 per share.

After the closing bell, semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials Corp. and Computer Sciences Corp., an information technology outsourcing firm, are also set to report.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei closed down 1.29 percent and Hong Kong Hang Seng fell 0.73 percent. In European trading, London's FTSE 100 was up 0.52 percent, Germany's DAX fell 0.22 percent, and France's CAC-40 added 0.11 percent.