Crude Oil at $100; AT&T, Verizon Drops

123jump.com Staff
19 Feb, 2008
New York City

U.S. stocks lost their early gains in the afternoon trading and closed lower. Cure oil price traded above $100 after Iran hinted that it will push for lower production targets in the next OPEC meeting. Verizon, T Mobile, and AT&T have entered in a price war to offer flat rate monthly service. Credit Suisse reported a surprise asset write-down of $2.85 billion in structured investment vehicles portfolio, only less than a week after reporting $12 billion related to a loss in sub-prime loan.

[R]10:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00PM New York, 8:00AM Sydney – Crude oil crossed $100 a barrel and metal prices traded at elevate levels.[/R]

A rally in commodities and metals lifted European and South American markets. Qatar’s decision to a stake in Credit Suisse in lifted Swiss index and banking stocks across the region.[/R]

European Markets

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 20.30 or 0.34% to 5,966.90, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 24.03 or 0.49% to close at 4,885.83 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 34.74 or 0.50% to close at 7,002.29. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 23.98 or 0.32% to close at 7,462.73.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 10.99 or 0.09% to a close of 12,337.22, S&P 500 closed down 1.21 or 0.09% to 1,348.78, and Nasdaq Composite Index traded down 15.60 or 0.67% to a close of 2,306.20. In Toronto TSX Composite closed up 220.98 or 1.67% to close at 13,447.74.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 15 closed higher, 15 closed lower, and none were unchanged.

Verizon led the decliners in the index with a loss of 6.6% followed by losses in AT&T of 5.3%, in American Express of 1.2%, and in Coca Cola of 1.1%. AIG led the gainers in the index with a rise of 2% followed by increases in Exxon Mobil of 1.9%, in Du Pont of 1.6%, and in Chevron of 1.5%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 211 closed higher, 285 fell, and four were unchanged. Of the index stocks, 36 rose more than 3% and 29 stocks fell more than 3%.

Dillards led the decliners in S&P 500 index with a loss of 8.7% followed by losses in Verizon with a loss of 6.6%, in Apollo Group of 6.3%, in Jones Apparel of 5.9%, in CenturyTel of 5.26%, and in Broadcom of 5.2%.

Peabody Energy led the gainers in the index with a rise of 6% followed by increases in New York Times of 5.9%, in Unisys of 5.6%, and in Micron Tech of 5.4%. CB Richard Ellis gained 4.7% and office Max increased 5.1%.

South American Markets Indexes

In Latin Markets Peru led the gainers in the region with a rise of 1.92% followed by increases in Chile of 0.24%, and in Venezuela of 0.22%. Mexico led the decliners in the region with a loss of 0.93% followed by losses in Brazil of 0.8%. Colombia closed nearly unchanged.

Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed higher 122.51 or 0.90% to 13,757.91, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index increased 363.92 or 1.53% closed to 24,123.17. Australia ASX 200 index increased 60.70 or 1.09% to close 5,619.10.

In South Korea Kospi Index increased 24.28 or 1.43% to close at 1,720.52, in Thailand SET index closed higher 10.63 or 1.29% to 835.62 and Indonesia JSE Index edged increased 27.17 or 1.01% to 2,711.87. Sensex index in India increased 27.61 or 0.15% to 18,075.66.

Bond Yields decreased on 10-year U.S. bonds to 3.50% and on 30-year bonds fell to 4.38%.

[R]Commodities, Metals, and Currencies[/R]

Crude oil added $4.51 to close at $100.01 per barrel for a front month contract, natural gas increased 32 cents to $8.98 per mBtu, and gasoline futures increased 10.93 cents to close at 260.31 cents per gallon.

Gold increased $23.70 in New York trading to close at $929.00 per ounce, silver closed up 39 cents to $17.51 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery increased 19.40 cents to 373.00 per pound and in London copper futures increased $257.00 to $8,008.00.


Wheat futures rose 5.50 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $10.47 per bushel. Sugar increased 0.34 cents to 14.11 cents per pound. Soybean future closed up 26.50 cents to $14.71 per bushel.

Dollar edged lower but traded near record lows against euro to $1.4728 and edged higher against yen to 107.85.