NEW YORK — Stocks managed modest gains yesterday as investors saw a series of corporate acquisitions as a chance to pick up bargains in an otherwise difficult market. Another record high for oil prices muted the gains.

General Electric Co.'s $1.6 billion investment in a Turkish bank and Johnson Controls Inc.'s takeover of York International Corp. assured investors that corporate America is still willing to spend money to expand.

A drop in unemployment claims also helped spur buying. The Labor Department reported that first-time jobless claims dropped by 4,000 to 315,000 last week and that the four-week average of claims fell to its lowest level in four years.

Yet oil remained the focus, and some analysts wondered whether the markets could stage any kind of substantive rally with crude futures at record levels and the Federal Reserve undeterred in its policy of slow but steady interest hikes

Rising oil prices pressured industrial stocks, and General Electric fell 4 cents to $33.50.

"Oil is a huge concern, interest rates are a huge concern, and you have to be concerned about the two of them together," said Chris Johnson, manager of quantitative analysis at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati. "There's room to run to the downside, but I have a hard time seeing a lot of upside right now.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by more than 3 to 2 on the Big Board, where consolidated volume came to 1.63 billion shares, compared with 2.01 billion on Wednesday.

Bonds traded in a narrow range, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipping to 4.16 percent from 4.17 percent late Wednesday.

The dollar lost ground against most major currencies.

Gold prices rose.