U.S. MARKET AVERAGES
U.S. stock-index futures steadied during the first trading hour after a lower opening Monday morning, caused by advancing Hurricane Katrina which pushed oil prices above $70 a barrel overnight, hitting oil refineries along its way and shutting down 1 million barrels of refining capacity.
Katrina is the No. 11 storm so far this season and provoked concerns on the market of the impact the hurricane activity will have on the U.S. oil and refining region.
Energy companies, insurers and hotel operators are in focus. Oil and natural-gas futures contracts could climb further fueled by the impact of Katrina, which is forecasted to produce a 20-foot storm surge.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Oil stocks were among the best performers in the early trading, fueled by the rising oil prices.
Chevron Corp. (
CVX: chart) advanced 1%, while
ExxonMobil added 1.1%.
Home Depot (
HD: chart) was up 1.4% and
Lowes Companies (
LOW: chart) added 1.2% as the home improvement retailers benefited form the predictions that Katrina is likely to compel Gulf Coast consumers to buy goods to make their homes safer.
Insurance stocks were under pressure ahead of early damage reports from Katrina.
Renaissance Re (
RNR: chart) was last down 2%,
Everest Re (
RE: chart) lost 1.5%, while
Allstate (
ALL: chart) dropped 1%.
PanAmSat added 21% after
Intelsat Ltd. said it would acquire PanAmSat Holding Corp. for $3.2 billion, or $25 a share, to form the world's largest commercial-satellite fleet.
Per-Se Technologies Inc. (
PSTI: chart) and
Wolters Kluwer agreed to acquire
NDCHealth Corp. (
NDC: chart) in a $1 billion deal and as a result NDC shares gained 6.3
INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS
Asian-Pacific benchmarks finished in the red, dragged down by surging crude-oil prices to $70.80 a barrel as hurricane Katrina advanced toward the heart of the U.S. oil and natural-gas industry. Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.04% on exporter-issues selling with electronics makers NEC and Sony among the losers, followed by auto makers Honda and Toyota. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1% on futures-related selling in China Mobile. Taiwan’s stocks fell 1.4% on tech shares sell-off; stocks in Indonesia slid 5.2%.
European markets declined in mid-day trading, hurt by new record-high crude-oil futures of over $70 a barrel and U.S. markets seven-week low close on Friday. Insurers Allianz, Aegon, ING were among the losers as U.S. storm damage fears dragged them down, while French oil major Total added 0.7%. The German DAX 30 lost 0.5%, the French CAC 40 slipped 0.2%, U.K.’s market was closed for a holiday.
ENERGY, METALS AND CURRENCIES MARKETS
Crude-oil futures tested $70 a barrel for the first time Monday as the category 4 Hurricane Katrina moves toward the center of U.S. oil and refinery operations in the Gulf of Mexico, making redundant an estimated one million barrels of refining capacity.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery on the NYME soared $4.67 a barrel in electronic trading to strike $70.80 a barrel during the Asian trading day, before subsiding to $68.95 a barrel by midday in Europe, but still up $2.082 from its close on Friday. Brent crude wasn't trading Monday as London's International Petroleum Exchange was closed for a bank holiday.
Gold rose in Asian trading on the back of soaring crude-oil prices. Gold for immediate delivery gained $3 to $440.70 per troy ounce. December contract rose $3.20 to $445.30 on the Nymex in after-hours electronic trading. In India gold October delivery added 0.3% to $446.00 on the Multy Commodity Exchange of India.
Volatile crude-oil prices weigh on the
U.S. dollar and the
Japanese yen on worries that higher energy costs would hinder U.S. and Japanese economy growth. In Asian trading he euro was quoted at $1.2313, up from $1.2291. The dollar bought 110.32 yen, up from 110.17. The British pound traded at $1.8048, up from $1.8000.
EARNINGS NEWS
Bodisen Biotech, manufacturer of environmentally friendly bio fertilizer products said its common stock started trading on the American Stock Exchange under the stock symbol: BBC. The company posted 18 cents a share, a rise of 50% over the year-ago period on 99% revenue growth for the same quarter last year. Bodisen is serving the needs of China's 900 million farmers.
XPEL, electronic delivery of top automotive aftermarket productscompany, reported that 2Q revenue was $824,398, 31% up from 1Q $631,344 of 2005. The revenue growth came as a result of a 33% increase in Design Access Program fees, a 41% increase in Other income, consisting of training revenues and third-party enabling equipment such as plotters and a 25% growth in Kit and material sales. XPEL is publicly traded on the Canadian Trading and Quotation System Exchange.
