US STOCKS-Wall St inches up on lower oil, Microsoft

(Updates to late afternoon, changes byline)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged up on Wednesday, supported by easing oil prices as Iran said it would free the British sailors and marines it has detained and on positive brokerage comments on tech bellwether Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O).

Data pointing to services sector weakness and slower-than-expected growth in factory orders revived concerns about the economy and helped to keep a lid on the market.

The news from Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, helped push down oil prices, easing worries about energy costs.

Microsoft shares rose 2.4 percent to $28.53, boosting the three major indexes.

Meanwhile, financial shares, whose fortunes are closely tied to a growing economy, inched lower, with shares of Citigroup Inc. (C.N) down 0.2 percent at $51.32.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 15.68 points, or 0.13 percent, at 12,525.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 0.91 points, or 0.06 percent, at 1,438.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 7.04 points, or 0.29 percent, at 2,457.37.

"I think the (services data) was not too surprising. If you scale back the onion, you can see where the ice below is getting a little bit thinner," said Georges Yared, founder and Chief Investment Strategist for Yared Investment Research.

"But I think the stock market is more focused on the upcoming earnings results, and we haven't really seen any bellwether pre-annoucements, which is always a good sign and tells us that the strength of the first quarter in terms of earnings is probably going to be pretty good," he said.

The Dow average was on course for its fifth straight day of gains, its longest winning streak since mid-March. The Nasdaq was also set to notch its fifth day of gains, its longest since early January.

Shares of Monster Worldwide Inc. MNST.O, parent of jobs Web site Monster.com, were down 13.2 percent at $42.13 and among the top negatives on the S&P and Nasdaq. The company said it expects first-quarter revenue below its prior forecast. For details, see [ID:nN04325116]

U.S. crude for May delivery CLc1 slipped 21 cents to $64.38 after Iran said it would free the British sailors and marines held for more than a week, easing global tensions.

The Institute for Supply Management said its index of non-manufacturing industries showed growth in the vast services sector last month tumbled to its weakest pace in four years, below even the most bearish forecast in a Reuters survey. (Additional reporting by Ellis Mnyandu)