U.S. Stocks Rise as Oil Prices Tumble

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U.S. Stocks Rise as Oil Prices Tumble

1 hour, 7 minutes ago

By Mark McSherry

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday on investor relief that oil prices fell sharply after a higher-than-expected rise in crude stocks last week.

Related Quotes
PG DD AFL CAH AAPL DJIA NASDAQ S&P 500	51.56 42.86 35.39 47.57 49.85 9976.96 1960.65 1118.98	-1.65 +1.46 -2.25 +8.24 +1.88 +88.48 +31.86 +7.89

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U.S. light, sweet crude oil futures tumbled $1.82 to $53.35 a barrel, slipping from an all-time high of $55.67 hit on Monday and easing concern among stock investors that high energy costs could curb consumer spending and hurt company profits.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude oil inventories rose by four million barrels last week to 283.4 million. Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast an average rise in crude stocks of 1.4 million barrels.

The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - news) was up 63.34 points, or 0.64 percent, at 9,951.82. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - news) was up 7.70 points, or 0.69 percent, at 1,118.79. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC - news) was up 29.53 points, or 1.53 percent, at 1,958.32.

"Whenever you see a nice drop in the price of oil, you see a gain in the indexes," said Barry Hyman, chief investment strategist at Ehrenkrantz, King, Nussbaum.

"Intraday moves in the market are related to the price of crude -- the one thing that has been holding the market back is the price of oil."

Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE:CAH - news) helped buoy the S&P 500, rising about 22 percent to $47.92, a day after it posted higher earnings for its June quarter.

DuPont Co. (NYSE:DD - news) rose about 3 percent to $42.77, helping the Dow, after CSFB on Wednesday raised its investment rating on the chemicals maker to "neutral" from "underperform."

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG - news), maker of Crest toothpaste and Tide detergent, fell 3 percent to $51.40 after it maintained but did not raise its outlook for the fiscal year after posting a 14 percent increase in quarterly profit.

AFLAC Inc. (NYSE:AFL - news) fell 6 percent to $35.30 after Goldman Sachs on Wednesday lowered its rating on the company to "in-line" from "outperform," citing the supplementary health insurer's disappointing third-quarter results.

Apple Computer Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL - news) rose about 4 percent to $49.97, helping the Nasdaq, a day after it rolled out a new iPod that allows users to view and share photos.

In economic news, U.S. orders for long-lasting durable goods rose by a smaller-than-expected 0.2 percent in September, held back by another sharp fall in commercial aircraft.

U.S. new home sales surged unexpectedly in September, climbing 3.5 percent, as low mortgage rates attracted buyers.

(Additional reporting by Anna Driver)

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[US_MilitaryRules]

Bush/Cheney/Haliburton conspiracy Bump!

[Zuben Elgenubi]

"...sweet crude oil futures tumbled $1.82 to $53.35 a barrel, slipping from an all-time high of $55.67"

Hardly a 'tumble', imo. Now Castro, there was a tumble!

[trebb]

It's starting early - I expected the oil to stay at record levels until after the election...

[Larry381]

I continue to believe that commodity oil prices are being manipulated for political purposes(I have no direct proof)
I recently talked to a broker I know & he tells me many other traders in his firm also believe this. Maybe someone with experience in the market can comment on this-is this possible?

[Grampa Dave]

There may be another reason for the increase in the indexes.

It appears that Wall Street has discounted the phoney NY Slimes/C Bs story.

[Uncle George]

SORO'S and his lib buddy speculators are running out of money before the election got over.

[Grampa Dave]

The indexes have done well except for the utility, gold/silver and the oil indexes.

http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/markets/indexes.asp

Besides the downward pressure on the Oil Index, whenever GW beats the latest bs from ABCNNBC BS and the NY Slimes, the market recovers from the downside that happens when the latest rat bs is aired/printed.

[RockinRight]

After the election, the price will drop like a rocket. Expect $35/bbl by Christmas.

[Non-Sequitur]

Maybe someone with experience in the market can comment on this-is this possible?

No markets run on rumor and conspiracy theory more than the commodities markets. I doubt that they are being manipulated because the amount of money needed to do so for so long would be enormous, far beyond the financial ability of a single person. Even one as rich as Soros.

[OldFriend]

Rumors are rampant and shameless. Promulgated by the ever more desperate DNC and their cohorts.

[Non-Sequitur]

Promulgated by the ever more desperate DNC and their cohorts.

I doubt it. More likely promulgated by other traders trying to get the markets to move in a manner most financially advantageous to themselves. Money transcends politics.

[tom paine 2]

My paranoid side says that Soros is trying to buy up oil futures the way the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market basck in the 70's

[SAJ]

Different times, different mkts. Apples and oranges.

The worldwide silver mkt is quite small, as such things go, and it's conceivable that someone might someday attempt another corner. The worldwide crude mkt is gigantic; you could amass the net capitalisation of ExxonMobil, BPAmoco, ConocoPhillips, Shell, and Yukos, and throw in Bill Gates for good measure, and not be able to corner the mkt. Secondary and emerging supply along with demand destruction would kill you if you were to try to. About the best you could do is to float the price $15-20/bbl higher for some number of months -- unless, of course, you also nuked the Ghawar and Kirkuk fields into the bargain. (g!)

[OldFriend]

I suspect that this was expected and our side is doing a bit of selling to thwart the evil doers.

[SierraWasp]

2:19 Dow peeks above 10,000

[SierraWasp]

And the questionable, delayed "Terror Tape," which REALLY surprises me!!!

[Larry381]

My paranoid side says that Soros is trying to buy up oil futures the way the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market basck in the 70's

Refresh my memory-if someone were to buy oil futures at the current price wouldn't they take a bath when & if the price of oil declines. Dumb question, I know, but I know zero about the commodities market.

[ChinaThreat]

Agreed. If you have a lot of dough tied up in bonds, now is the time to start moving them to stocks. I am personally waiting to see who wins the election. I think a Kerry win will send oil prices throught the roof by mid December. A Bush win will lend some certainty to oil supplies from Iraq. If we were to begin a premature exit from Iraq, I think you will see crude hit $60+.

<Disclaimer - I am not a financial analyst :-). Spend your money how you see fit. Just a little commentary.

[steveegg]

> "...sweet crude oil futures tumbled $1.82 to $53.35 a barrel,
> slipping from an all-time high of $55.67"

Hardly a 'tumble', imo. Now Castro, there was a tumble!

? How does - "down to $52.50 (or $2.67, better than 4.8%)" (the last quote reported by CNBC) sound for a Castro-like tumble?