NEW YORK — Stocks fluctuated today as investors contended with another spike in oil prices that fanned fresh concerns about inflation.

Rising oil weighed on the Dow Jones industrial average. Its occasional declines in the early going left the index off 20 percent from its high in October, putting the blue chips officially in bear market territory.

Oil prices and concerns about rising prices helped trigger last week's steep sell-off. Light, sweet crude moved above $143 per barrel for the first time early Monday before pulling back to $142.22, up $2.01 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Rising prices have pressured stock markets worldwide because of worries that inflation will force consumers and businesses to pare spending, which would hurt economic activity. In the U.S., consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity so a sharp pullback would prove particularly damaging.

Monday is the last day of the second quarter, and institutional investors could be looking to make any changes that will put the best light on battered portfolios.

The Dow's 10.2 percent decline this month as of Friday's close leaves the index on pace for its worst June since the Depression. In June 1930, the Dow logged a 17.2 percent drop.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' report on manufacturing, which tracks business conditions across Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, rose to 49.6 for June from 49.1 in May. However, a reading below 50 signals economic contraction. While the reading was better than analysts expected it was unable to shake the market's depression over the price of oil.

In midmorning trading, the Dow rose 10.83, or 0.10 percent, to 11,357.34.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.27, or 0.33 percent, to 1,282.65, and the Nasdaq composite index slipped 0.91, or 0.04 percent, to 2,314.72.

Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which tends to move opposite its price, was flat at 3.97 percent from late Friday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

In corporate news, H&R Block Inc. swung to a fourth-quarter profit from a loss following a strong tax season and the sale of the company's troubled mortgage business. The nation's largest tax preparer issued a full-year profit forecast that topped Wall Street's estimate. The stock rose $1.18, or 5.7 percent, to $22.

A Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. analyst reduced her financial forecast and price target for Merrill Lynch & Co. because of expectations that the investment bank will book further write-downs of securities related to mortgages. Merrill fell 41 cents $31.29.

Declining issues narrowly outnumbered advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 262.3 million shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.37, or 0.05 percent, to 698.51.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.46 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.52 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.56 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.49 percent.