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Strategies & Market Trends : Aardvark Adventures -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ~digs who wrote (656)	8/3/2004 2:43:19 PM
From: ~digs	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7944

Stocks Slip on Consumer Data, Oil Prices finance.myway.com NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as surging oil prices and a weak report on consumer spending dragged on investor sentiment. NYMEX crude oil futures hit a record-high above $44 a barrel on worries of scarce supplies. The spurt in crude prices sent shares of oil companies ChevronTexaco (CVX), ConocoPhillips Co. (COP) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) to 52-week highs. Investors also got weak quarterly results from phone company Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q) and hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC), which both posted wider losses. Also weighing on the market was a government report that showed U.S. consumer spending in June took its biggest plunge since September 2001 as shoppers cut back on purchases of expensive items like autos amid slowing income growth. "The high price of oil is a factor affecting the consumer spending but I think a lot of traders feel this is a temporary aberration," said Michael Metz, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer & Co. "It's not good news, but it's not new bad news." The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI) fell 38.2 points, or 0.38 percent, to 10,140.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX) lost 3.69 points, or 0.33 percent, to 1,102.93. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index (IXIC) fell 20.02 points, or 1.06 percent, to 1,872.07. The oil price spike came amid U.S. government warnings of possible al-Qaeda attacks on key financial institutions as well as comments by OPEC's president, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who said the cartel had no additional supplies that were immediately available. Crude oil is a factor in almost every aspect of production and transportation of goods and affects the profits of almost all companies. U.S. light sweet crude futures hit a new 21-year high of $44.24 before easing to $44.15. In company news, shares of phone company Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q) fell 69 cents, or 17 percent, to $3.28 after it reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss. Tenet, which is the target of civil and criminal investigations, on Tuesday said its quarterly loss more than doubled, hurt by unpaid patient bills and special charges. Tenet also said it had received a subpoena regarding its hospitals in New Orleans and that its chief financial officer intends to leave the company. It fell 56 cents, or 5 percent, to $10.62. Tyco International Ltd (TYC) reported a 63 percent increase in quarterly profit that beat Wall Street expectations. Shares of the conglomerate rose 61 cents, or 2 percent, to $31.85. ConocoPhillips' stock rose 35 cents to $79.26, slipping from an earlier high of $79.93. Shares of ChevronTexaco jumped $2.07, or 2.2 percent, to $98.55, while Exxon Mobil rose 56 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $46.82. The S&P oil and gas producers index <.GSPOILI> hit 263.11 on Tuesday, surpassing its life-time high.