NEW YORK, 25 February 2006 — Wall Street struggled yesterday as investors were rattled by a jump in oil prices following a report of an explosion at a Saudi oil refinery.
At 1625 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 36.34 points (0.33 percent) at 11,032.88, while the NASDAQ dropped 1.98 points (0.09 percent) to 2,277.34.
The broad-market Standard and Poor’s 500 index was essentially flat, gaining a fractional 0.05 point to 1,287.84.
“Oil is apt to remain in focus as supply concerns continue to trouble the market,” analysts at Briefing.com wrote. “The Saudi development adds to the geopolitical tensions that have been recently related to Nigeria.”
Paul Nolte, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates, predicted the market will have difficulty getting out of its trading range in the near term.
“There are still a lot of cross currents in the market,” Nolte said. “We have higher oil prices. But we also have an economy that seems to be doing OK, ... not terrific.”
A report early yesterday showed a 10.2 percent plunge in orders for US-made durable goods. But analysts said the report was skewed by a 68 percent drop in aircraft orders, which can be volatile. Excluding that, orders were up 0.6 percent for the month and 6.5 percent year over year.
“The sky isn’t falling, just new non-defense aircraft orders,” said Jason Schenker at Wachovia Securities.
Among active shares, Time Warner fell 15 cents to $17.17 after the media-entertainment giant said CNN founder Ted Turner would leave its board of directors.
Continental Airlines fell 67 cents to $22.64, and American Airlines parent AMR shed 86 cents to $25.01, after news that Venezuela would restrict access for US carriers as a retaliatory move.
Intel dropped a penny to 20.28, after getting a downgrade and a price target cut from Friedman Billings Ramsey.
The Gap shed 69 cents to $18.41 after the retailer reported that fourth-quarter earnings fell 11 percent to $337 million and lowered its full-year profit projection. Bonds weakened. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose to 4.579 percent from 4.567 percent on Thursday, and that on the 30-year bond climbed to 4.530 percent from 4.512 percent.
European stock exchanges turned in solid performances yesterday, powered by swirling takeover speculation and positive corporate news.
The London FTSE 100 index gained 0.42 percent to close at 5,860.5 while the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.67 percent to reach 5,073.95. In Frankfurt the DAX rose 0.22 percent to end the week at 5,870.79. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading euro zone shares added 0.33 percent to finish at 3,826.
Elsewhere there were gains of 0.70 percent to 3,929.12 on the Bel-20 in Brussels, 0.41 percent to 11,786.9 on the Ibex-35 in Madrid and 0.39 percent to 38,121 on the SP Mib in Milan. The AEX in Amsterdam was unchanged at 464.57 and the Swiss Market Index fell 0.37 percent to 7,954.33.
Yesterday in Asia, the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index added just 5.81 points to close at 16,101.91 following cautious trade amid jitters about strong hints from Japan’s central bank pointing to a tightening of monetary policy. Hong Kong’s key Hang Seng Index ended 0.28-percent higher at 15,856.05 points as index heavyweight bank HSBC attracted buying interest amid fresh speculation that it might make an acquisition, dealers said.
The Shanghai A-share Index added 8.07 points to 1,359.86 on turnover of 11.15 billion yuan ($1.38 billion) while the Shenzhen A-share Index was up 2.45 points or 0.76 percent at 326.91 on turnover of 6.69 billion yuan.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B-shares, added 8.02 points or 0.62 percent at 1,296.87 on turnover of 11.38 billion yuan.
In Bombay, the 30-share Sensex index fell 43.29 points to 10,200.76.
Meanwhile, the dollar overcame poor US economic data yesterday and edged higher against the euro but the day’s big winner here was the yen, supported by speculation the Bank of Japan might tighten monetary policy.
The single European currency in late-day trade was at 1.1879 dollars after 1.1921 late Thursday in New York.
The dollar meanwhile fell to 116.93 yen in late-day trade against 117.09 on Thursday.
Elsewhere, the dollar edged higher against the euro despite some weak US data. The pound was being traded at 1.7449 dollars (1.7517).