NEW YORK — Wall Street lifted itself out of a fourth day of losses yesterday, closing higher as Hurricane Rita weakened slightly.

Investors bid stocks up as oil prices declined. Stocks that had been doing poorly for weeks, such as retailers and consumer-goods companies, rebounded.

Gains by Dow Jones industrial components McDonald's Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. helped to lift the index by 44.02, or 0.42 percent.

The Labor Department reported that the number of Americans thrown out of work by Hurricane Katrina shot up by 103,000 last week, bringing the total seeking jobless benefits because of the storm to 214,000.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board said its Index of Leading Economic Indicators fell for the second straight month during August as consumer sentiment weakened.

The data for the index was collected before Katrina's devastation of the Gulf Coast, and it is likely that the September index will be even weaker.

Declining issues led advancers 9 to 7 yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange, where preliminary consolidated volume was 2.42 billion shares, down from 2.55 billion at the same time Wednesday.

The Russell 2000 index rose 1.22, or 0.19 percent, to 651.16.

Bonds dipped. The U.S. dollar was mixed against other major currencies in European trading. Gold prices were lower.

A barrel of light crude settled at $66.50, down 30 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.