US Stocks Fall on Higher Oil Prices

US stocks fall on higher oil prices

NEW YORK, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) — Wall Street stocks fell Wednesday as surging oil prices overshadowed the market’s early optimism about the nation’s economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 21.26 points, or 0.2 percent, to 10,594.41 points. The Nasdaq composite index fell 16. 38 points, or 0.75 percent, to 2,157.81 points. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index shed 2.25 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,229.13 points.

On Wednesday, crude oil prices rose as high as 65 dollars a barrel in New York. Investors had begun the day confident that the US economy would stay strong, but surging oil futures choked off their optimism about the economy. The tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index was also hurt by a disappointing outlook from Cisco Systems Inc.

In company news, China National Offshore Oil Company, Ltd. soared 4.17 dollars to 76.19 dollars, Chevron Corp. rose 1.26 dollars to 62.48 dollars and Unocal Corp. added 0.55 cents to 66. 10 dollars. Unocal’s shareholders had formally voted to accepted Chevron’s takeover bid.

Other gainers included American International Group Inc., which rose 82 cents to 62.24 dollars, and Federated Department Stores Inc. climbed 93 cents to 73.69 dollars.

However, Microsoft Corp. fell 40 cents to 26.95 dollars, Cisco Systems Inc. shed 1.36 dollars to 18.25 dollars and the Walt Disney Co. lost 67 cents to 25.47 dollars.

On the NYSE, advancing stocks led decliners about 3 to 2 and the trading volume was heavy.