Dow Tumbles 31.93 as Price of Oil Spirals : Wall St.: Investors fear recession is more likely; they also are waiting for Friday’s unemployment figures.

Stock prices took a tumble today, hammered down by revived upward pressure on world oil prices that some investors feared could tip the economy into recession.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 31.93 points to close at 2,596.29.

Declining issues outnumbered advances by more than 9 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 507 up, 951 down and 489 unchanged.

Big Board volume totaled 125.62 million shares, against 120.61 million in the previous session.

The NYSE’s composite index dropped 1.87 to 176.06.

The price of oil climbed above $31 a barrel as pessimism spread about chances for any early resolution of the crisis in the Persian Gulf.

In addition, analysts said buyers were holding back awaiting the Labor Department’s report Friday morning on the employment situation for August. The figures are expected to show continued weakness in the economy.

Speculation has begun to spread on Wall Street that the data might encourage the Federal Reserve to adopt a more stimulative credit policy in an effort to ease strains on the economy and the banking system.

But Wall Streeters are not entirely convinced that long-term interest rates would automatically fall in response to such a move.

In fact, some say, rates could rise in that setting if fears increased that the Fed was softening its stand against inflation. That, in turn, would stand to leave the central bank in an even worse policy bind than it has to contend with now.

With an hour of trading to go, losers among the blue chips included Boeing, down 1 1/2 at 47 1/4; General Electric, down 3/8 at 59 7/8; American Telephone & Telegraph, down 5/8 at 31 1/2, and Pepsico, down 3/4 at 24 1/2.

Retailing issues were broadly lower as the industry posted sluggish sales results for August. The Limited fell 1 3/8 to 15 3/8; Wal-Mart Stores 1 to 27 3/8; Toys R Us 3/8 to 24 1/8, and K mart 1/2 to 27.