NEW YORK — Wall Street rose modestly in early trading Monday as oil prices ticked lower and the dollar advanced.

The market's concerns about rising inflation and its impact on consumer spending receded somewhat as light, sweet crude fell $1.11 to $124.85 per barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices surged nearly $10 last week, touching off concerns about rising prices and their affect on businesses and consumers.

The dollar's gains also appeared to help ease some concerns about inflation. A weak dollar can exacerbate price increases, especially since hard commodities like oil become more attractive to investors seeking a hedge against inflation.

The market also got some encouraging news about the credit crisis from London-based HSBC Holdings PLC, which said its first-quarter profits were up from a year ago although the global banking company took a $3.2 billion write-down on subprime mortgage assets in the United States. The company did echo other assessments that the U.S. was likely to fall into recession this year.

Dow Jones industrial average rose 41.93, or 0.33 percent, to 12,787.81.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.97, or 0.29 percent, to 1,392.25, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.22, or 0.21 percent, to 2,450.74.