Stocks Move Higher on Oil Retreat

08 Apr, 2005
New York City

Stocks moved higher Friday morning as oil prices dropped for a fifth straight day.

Stocks moved higher Friday morning as oil prices dropped for a fifth straight day.

A barrel of light crude was quoted at $53.60, down 51 cents, prior to opening on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Markets are still awaiting Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan to speak on consumer prices later in the day. Economic outlook is mixed.

Shares of Time Warner Inc. (TWX) and Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) rallied ahead after the media companies announced plans to buy Adelphia, the nation’s fifth-largest cable company, which has been operating under bankruptcy protection since June 2002.

Technology stocks gained momentum in early morning hours. NASDAQ gainers included Dell Inc. (DELL), Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Intel Corp. (INTC) and Apple Computers (AAPL).

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) jumped 4% to $16.37 on the New York Stock Exchange after the semiconductor company said it plans to launch its new dual-processing chips later this month, ahead of schedule.

Biotech stocks were slightly lower early Friday while pharmaceutical stocks gained as Pfizer (PFE) extended losses a day after its billion-dollar Bextra drug was pulled from the market. Celgene Corp. (CELG) said it has completed the rolling submission of a new drug to the FDA for review.

TV systems operator Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) decided to shut down its money-losing Voom satellite television service. The satellite TV service will no longer be available to customers as of April 30. Cablevision share rose 2.1% to 28.43, near their 52-week high of $31.64.