NEW YORK — Wall Street managed a modest advance yesterday as investors concentrated on solid second-quarter earnings and shrugged off higher oil prices and a drop in petroleum reserves.

Investors were anticipating more good earnings news after Harley-Davidson Inc. and Abbott Laboratories released strong quarterly results.

"Earnings are very good, corporations are flush with cash, and we're seeing more dividend increases occurring," said Joe Lisanti, editor of Standard & Poor's weekly newsletter The Outlook. "We're going to see more investors pleased with their returns."

Stocks briefly gave up some early gains after the Energy Department reported that crude oil and gasoline supplies declined again last week. Tropical Storm Cindy and Hurricane Dennis disrupted some production in the Gulf of Mexico.

A barrel of light crude closed at $60.01, down 61 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 43.50, or 0.41 percent, to 10,557.39.

Although stocks closed up, they continue to trade in a narrow range because "this is the very beginning of earnings reporting season. It's not surprising, given the flat market we've had, that people want to wait and see how the first earnings reports look before they commit dollars," said Susan L. Malley, chief investment officer for Malley Associates Capital Management.

Declining issues led advancers by nearly 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 1.88 billion shares, down from 1.99 billion on Tuesday.