Return
to Story Page
To print: Select File and then Print from your
browser's menu
Paul Thomasch
New York: Crude oil prices marched to highs not seen in more than a year-and-a-half on Friday, and oil shares rose as the Dow Jones industrial average closed at a record high ahead of the fourth of July weekend.
Crude oil for delivery in August finished 30 cents higher at $19.69 a barrel in a shortened session on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline prices also gained ground, jumping 1.43 cents to 58.46 cents a gallon in advance of the long holiday weekend, which usually marks the peak of gasoline demand as drivers fill their tanks and take to the roads.
But even with crude oil and gasoline prices at their highest levels since late 1997, drivers won't be paying more than usual at the pump this weekend, according to the US Department of Energy (DOE). Excess gasoline inventories are cushioning American drivers from sticker shock at the pump, the DOE said."In fact, the National average gasoline price is lower than the average levels seen over the fourth of July weekend throughout the 1995 through 1997period," the DOE said.
Shares in most energy companies continue to reap the benefits of stronger oil prices, however, with the Standard & Poor's International Oil Index ending 3.84 points higher at 966.94 on Friday.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 72.82 points, or up 0.66 percent, at 11,139.24, for a new record close, eclipsing the previous record settlement at 11,107.19 that it set on May 13.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index also closed Friday at a record 1,391.22, up 10.26 points, or 0.74 percent, and the technology-weighted Nasdaq composite index ended the day at a record 2,741.02, up 34.84 points, or up 1.29 percent. For the S&P 500 And the Nasdaq, Friday marked the third straight day of record closes.
Wall Street has been in party mode since Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve bumped a key interest rate up only a quarter of a percentage point, as expected, and indicated that this rate increase might suffice for a while.Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp., which are awaiting regulatoryapproval for their giant merger, both scored solid gains. Exxon ended up $1.1875 at $79.50, while Mobil finished up $1.3125 at $101.625 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Phillips Petroleum Co., which said Friday that its board adopted a shareholder rights plan to replace the one that expires on July 31, closed 43.75 cents higher at $50.3125 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Bartlesville, Okla.-based oil producer and refiner said the new plan was not in response to any specific takeover threat, but rather a response to broader consolidation within the industry.
Phillips broke off talks for an $8 billion refining and marketing deal with Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corp. earlier this year.
But not all oil stocks had a banner day on Friday.
Chevron Corp., a Dow component, fell 18.75 cents to $96.25 Friday after it said it sold its stake in a California offshore oil field. The sale marks the oil giant's exit from offshore oil and gas operations in California.Otherwise, Conoco Inc. ended down 75 cents at$26.6875 after announcing late Thursday that it would take a charge of $19 million, or three cents a share, against second-quarter earnings to write off the cost of an unsuccessful well drilled offshore New Zealand. The Houston-based integrated oil company said it otherwise expected second-quarter earnings to be in line with current analysts' estimates.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
------------------------------------------------------------
This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
------------------------------------------------------------