US Stocks Lose Ground

albena
22 Apr, 2005
New York City

U.S. stocks fell today after the prior session's biggest one-day gain in two years. The largest U.S. warehouse club operator Costco Wholesale Corp. plunged on a dissatisfactory outlook. Oil prices jumped toward $55 a barrel.

Crude-oil futures climbed in early trading fueled by a jump in gasoline prices. The benchmark June contract was last up 65 cents at $54.85 a barrel in New York trading, having briefly moved above the $55 a barrel level. Growing oil prices raise worries that higher energy costs will affect corporate profits and restrict consumer spending.

Gold prices went up as weakness in the dollar bolstered the attractiveness of the precious metal as an investment.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 18.47 points, or 0.18%, at 10,200.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 2.70 points, or 0.23%, at 1,157.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 14.95 points, or 0.76%, at 1,947.46.

Shares of the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. soared 16.2% to $12.38. The second largest U.S. stock market is expected to announce its acquisition of the electronic share trading company Instinet Group Inc. Analysts predict that the deal would bolster Nasdaq in the competition against the New York Stock Exchange.


Shares UP:

DeVry shares advanced 13.8%.
Fiserv shares jumped 4.3%.
Fortune Brands shares added 2.8%.
Google shares surged 7.3%.
McDonald's Corp. leapt 1.8%.
PetroQuest Energy shares rose 2.4%.


Shares DOWN:

Costco Wholesale shares slid 9.2%.
Cypress Semiconductor lost 3.2%.
Eastman Kodak shares gave back 7.9%.
ExpressJet Holdings lost 5%.
Maytag shares declined 24.4%.
Netflix shares dropped 8.6%.
Yahoo shares tumbled 2.7%.