By Leslie Wines, MarketWatch
Dec 9, 2005
U.S. stock prices closed higher Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite
outperforming the other major averages, after energy prices retreated from
recent highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 23.46 points at 10,778.58,
after earlier gaining as much as 45 points.
The S&P 500 ended up 3.53 points at 1,259.37 and the Nasdaq Composite ran
up 10.27 points to 2,256.73. All the indices were lower for the week, with
the Dow dropping 0.9%, the S&P 500 losing 0.5%, and the Nasdaq off 0.7%.
There were more than 1.4 billion shares traded on the New York Stock
Exchange, with 20 rising stocks for every 12 declining shares. Over 1.67
billion shares traded in the Nasdaq market, where there were 18 advancing
stocks for every 11 shares under pressure.
The stock market Friday fluctuated frequently between positive and
negative territory for most of the session, but moved decisively higher
late in the day.
Paul Nolte, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates, said some
investors think the pullback in energy prices helped the market, given
that stock prices sank on Thursday as natural gas futures struck new
highs on worries about severe winter weather and dwindling supplies.
"It's hard to say if oil is driving trade," Nolte said. "There is not a
lot of news to drive the market higher or lower. We've got a couple of
moving parts. Everyone is trying to figure out how cold the winter is
going to be, and how much energy will cost, and what the impact on the
consumer will be."
"At the same time, people are waiting for the Federal Open Market
Committee meeting next week," Nolte said. "They want to know if there will
be any change in the commentary and if there will be an opportunity for
the Fed to pause in hiking rates.
Stocks also got some help from news that the University of Michigan's
preliminary consumer sentiment survey for December had a reading of 88.7,
up from 86.1 in November. The result surpassed the MarketWatch forecast of
85.9.
Separately, the Commerce Department reported that U.S. wholesalers rose
0.2% in October as sales climbed 1.2%. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch
were expecting inventories to expand further, by 0.5%.
The January natural gas contract backed below its recent historic high.
The front-month contract finished down 4.6% at $14.312 per million British
thermal units. On Thursday the contract shot 9.5% higher on the
nervousness about winter weather.
Crude futures ended at a one-week low, down $1.27, or 2.1% at $59.39 a
barrel.
February gold closed at $530.20 an ounce, the highest futures price
since April 1981, up $7.50 for the session and up 4.6% for the week. Gold
has been on a tear in recent weeks due to heavy physical demand and
inflation jitters.
Treasury prices were pressured by the unexpectedly strong consumer
confidence report, giving back gains registered on Thursday and sending
yields higher.
The benchmark 10-year note closed down 19/32 at 99-23/32 with a yield of
4.54%, up from 4.46% on Thursday. Treasurys closed flat for the week.
The dollar was weaker most of the session, but overcame its weakness late
in the day. The euro last was down 0.02% at $1.1814, while the dollar
gained 0.3% to 120.61 yen.
Stocks in play
Dow component Intel shares shook off morning losses to close up almost
1.6% at $26.11. Late Thursday, the world's largest maker of computer chips
lowered the top end of its sales forecast for the fourth quarter, but left
the midpoint unchanged. Investors had hoped for a higher top and middle
range points.
Shares of Merck, also in the Dow, dropped 1.8% to $29.13. The New England
Journal of Medicine is accusing the authors of a Merck-sponsored study on
the safety of painkiller Vioxx of omitting certain negative data about the
drug when they published an article on the results in 2000.
Another Dow component, International Business Machines lost 53 cents to
finish at $86.97 after UBS downgraded the stock to neutral.
Elsewhere in the Dow, General Electric closed 18 cents higher at $35.53
after increasing its 2005 share buyback authorization to $5 billion from
$4 billion. The company previously said it will repurchase $25 billion of
its stock by 2008
Eli Lilly rose 2.3% to $53.41 after the drug maker said that, after
eliminating charges, it expects fourth-quarter and full-year 2005 adjusted
earnings to be at the top of its guidance ranges.
Shares of Fresh Del Monte caved in 7.9% to $23.82. The company cut its
full-year earnings forecast because of slack pineapple demand.
Altel Corp. rose 1.6% to $65.66. As part of an effort to focus itself on
wireless communications, plans to spin off its local phone business to
Valor Communications in a deal valued at $9.1 billion
This MarketWatch news update is provided to you courtesy of Thomson
Financial.
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SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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