Maine gas prices up 8 cents

The average retail cost of a gallon of gas in Maine soared almost 8 cents in the past week, but still didn’t rise as fast as the national average.

Price-monitoring website MaineGasPrices.com reported Monday that the average cost in Maine jumped to $3.69 per gallon.

Even though the national average jumped more than 9 cents, gas in Maine remains well above the national average of $3.60 per gallon.

Prices in Maine are a quarter per gallon higher than a month ago, but a dime lower than at the same time last year.

A company analyst said the end of the summer driving season could drive down prices.

Optimism propels stocks up

U.S. stocks edged higher on a day marked by uncharacteristic quiet following a turbulent week.

Stocks were riding a tailwind of optimism from U.S. job numbers released last week and hope for more action by European authorities to address that region’s debt crisis.

On Monday, beleaguered stock trading company Knight Capital Group said it has lined up $400 million in financing that will allow the firm to continue to operate.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 21.34 points at 13,117.51The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 3.24 points to 1,394.23. The index came within half a point of 1,400, where it hasn’t traded since May 3.

The Nasdaq index rose 22.01 points to 2,989.91.