A steady job market helped consumers overcome their concerns over high energy costs in July, unexpectedly lifting a barometer of consumer sentiment yesterday.

But there are warning signs the optimism may be short-lived as shoppers face a barrage of concerns from a cooling housing market and rising interest rates to war in the Middle East.

A report that showed another monthly decline in home sales, which have been a source of confidence for consumers, also stoked concerns about the economy.The decline, however, was less than analysts expected.

The National Association of Realtors reported yesterday that sales of previously owned homes and condominiums dropped 1.3% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.62 million units; analysts had expected sales to fall to 6.60 million units. It was the eighth time in the past 10 months that sales slipped, while home prices edged up at the slowest pace in more than a decade.

The New York-based Conference Board said yesterday that its confidence index rose to a better-than-expected reading of 106.5 from a revised 105.4 in June. Analysts had expected the index to fall slightly to 104.

A late-day rebound gave stocks a moderate gain yesterday as lower oil prices and the unexpected jump in consumer confidence settled unease over a slew of mixed earnings reports. The Dow gained 52.66, or 0.48%, to close at 11,103.71.

“The employment situation is helping confidence hold at a decent level,” the chief economist at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., Gary Thayer, said.