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Oil dampens retail and merger euphoria
NEW YORK Wall Street is cheering an upbeat economic report and a flood of merger news, but it is also dealing with a sharp increase in crude oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 25 points at ten-thousand-568. Gainers on the New York Stock Exchange hold a nearly three-to-one lead over losers.
The Nasdaq Composite Index has gained six points at 21-31.
And the Standard-and Poor's 500 Stock Index is up three points at eleven-91.
Trading on the New York Stock Exchange during the first two hours totaled 469 (m) million shares. Volume on the Nasdaq Market came to 799 (m) million shares.
Investors are welcoming the end of Oracle's 18-month battle to take over PeopleSoft, pushing both stocks higher.
Oracle says PeopleSoft has accepted a bid of 26 dollars and 50 cents per-share, valuing the rival software company at ten-point-three (b) billion dollars.
Also on Wall Street radar screens are reported talks between Johnson and Johnson and Guidant, and between Sprint and Nextel Communications.
Wall Street also is cheering the Commerce Department's report on November retail sales, which rose a better-than-expected one-tenth of one percent. Taking auto sales out of the equation, retail sales rose one-half percent for the month.
But the good mood has been somewhat muted by a rise in oil futures, which came off of their five-month lows in morning trading. A barrel of light crude recently was quoted at 41.55, up 84 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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