Posted on: Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Lower oil prices, mergers have little effect on stocks
By Meg Richards
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Stocks were mixed in quiet trading yesterday, with blue chip and tech shares rising only modestly despite lower oil prices and several mergers and acquisitions, including Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.'s $1.5 billion bid for several candy brands from Kraft Foods Inc.
"People are trying to figure out what's next for the market," said Dean Junkans, chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Client Services. "We've had a nice run, postelection ... I think people are looking for that year-end rally, and wondering whether we've already gotten a bunch of it of if we've got more to run. I think we've got more to run."
Oil prices dropped, continuing a three-week trend that has taken crude futures down from their record $55-per-barrel level. Light, sweet crude for December delivery shed 52 cents to $46.87 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Investors were also weighing the resignations of four members of President Bush's Cabinet following the election, including Secretary of State Colin Powell and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.
The day's news seemed to have little impact on trading, as institutional investors focused on technical levels after equities jumped 8 percent over the past three weeks.
Declining shares slightly outnumbered advancers on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 1.91 billion shares, compared with 2 billion shares on Friday.
The pullback in energy prices and pickup in M&A activity were encouraging to analysts, who were not distressed by the day's lackluster trading. After three solid weeks of gains, and in the absence of any new economic data, it's natural for investors to take a step back.
