U.S. stocks recover, oil falls back

NEW YORK, June 21 (UPI) -- U.S. stocks started out flat, plummeted and then recovered as oil prices retreated from the $70-a-barrel level Thursday.

The Dow Jones industrial exchange righted itself after a tumble of nearly 90 points, finishing up 56.42, or 0.4 percent, at 13,545.84.

The Nasdaq rose 17 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,616.96 and the Standard & Poor's 500 climbed 9.35, or 0.6 percent to 1,522.19.

The volume was 1.6 billion shares with 1,819 stocks gaining and 1,487 declining.

Crude oil futures fell 21 cents to close at $68.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after flirting with the $70 a barrel mark. The close came after concern cooled over the threatened strike in Nigeria and its possible effect on that nation's oil production.

Yields on 10-year Treasury notes rose to 5.19 percent from 5.12 Wednesday.

The dollar was up. The euro was at $1.3392 from $1.3403 late Wednesday, while the dollar was at 123.71 yen from 123.60.