Stocks Hover Close to Unchanged Levels
Posted on: Wednesday, 6 October 2004, 06:00 CDT
NEW YORK - Oil prices slipped from their record highs Wednesday ahead of the weekly report on U.S. inventories, but stocks hovered close to unchanged levels as investors considered the long-term implications of the flu vaccine shortage.
In morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.66, or 0.01 percent, at 10,177.02.
The broader gauges were narrowly mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 0.71, or 0.1 percent, at 1,135.19. The Nasdaq composite index down 2.77, or 0.1 percent, at 1,952.73.
Energy prices moderated somewhat, with light, sweet crude for November delivery slipping 19 cents to $50.90 as traders anticipated positive inventory numbers.
Investors were eying the ramifications of the shortage in the flu vaccine following the British government's suspension of Chiron Corp.'s manufacturing license. Chiron, which shed provides about half of the flu vaccine used in the United States, shed $1.08 to $36.90, following an 18 percent drop on Tuesday. Henry Schein Inc., one of its major distributors, added 56 cents to $60.20, although it lowered its outlook for the rest of the year.
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. gained 49 cents to $3.84 after shock jock Howard Stern announced he'd signed a five-year, multimillion dollar deal with the company to move his show to the fledgling broadcasting service in 2006. Sirius said it would spend $100 million a year to produce the show, but warned it needs 1 million new subscribers to cover the costs. Sirius had 480,341 subscribers at the end of the second quarter.
The news pressured Sirius main rival, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., which fell 68 cents to $28.80.
Fannie Mae was up 54 cents at $66.54 as top officials with the mortgage giant, including chief executive Franklin Raines, defended its accounting practices before a House subcommittee in Washington. Regulators have alleged earnings manipulation and management misdeeds at Fannie Mae, which finances one of every five home loans in America.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 6 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume came to 152.62 million shares, compared with 164.19 million traded on Tuesday.
The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, was down 0.20, or 0.03 percent, at 587.14.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average gained 0.9 percent. In afternoon trading in Europe, France's CAC-40 dipped 0.3 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.1 percent and Germany's DAX index fell 0.1 percent.
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