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Energy companies lead US stocks higher as oil prices rise
MARLEY JAY, AP Markets Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising as energy companies climb with the price of oil. Investors are hoping that OPEC countries will soon be able to finalize a deal that would cut oil production and help support prices. Meat producer Tyson Foods is tumbling after it reported weak fourth-quarter results. Major stock indexes are trading around record highs.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average gained 52 points, or 0.3 percent, to 18,919 as of 11 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 11 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,192. The Nasdaq composite gained 39 points, or 0.7 percent, to 5,360. Small-company stocks, which are at record highs already, also continued to climb.
ENERGY: Benchmark New York crude gained $1.53, or 3.3 percent, to $47.22 a barrel while Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.65, or 3.5 percent, to $48.51 a barrel in London. That led to gains for energy companies. Marathon Oil added 90 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $16.52 and Exxon Mobil added $1.28, or 1.5 percent, to $86.56. Chevron gained $1.56, or 1.4 percent, to $110.76.
OPEC nations will meet in Vienna on Nov. 30. They have agreed to preliminary terms of a deal that will reduce the production of oil slightly, but the details remain to be determined.
NOT SO APPETIZING: Meat producer Tyson Foods tumbled $10.58, or 15.7 percent, to $56.78 after the company’s fourth-quarter profit fell far short of Wall Street’s forecasts. The company also said CEO Donnie Smith will step down at the end of this year, and company president Tom Hayes will replace him.
Competitor Hormel Foods lost 84 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $34.74.
LOCKED UP: Identity theft and fraud protection company LifeLock jumped $3.17, or 15.3 percent, to $23.92 after security software maker Symantec agreed to buy the company for $2.3 billion. The deal values LifeLock at $24 a share. Symantec edged up 55 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $24.31.
OIL DEAL: Sunoco Logistics agreed to buy Energy Transfer Partners in an all-stock deal. The two companies are involved in the Dakota Access Pipeline project. A portion of that pipeline would pump oil under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota, and the local Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others are protesting the pipeline, saying they fear a leak could contaminate the drinking water on its reservation. They also say it could disturb sacred sites.
Both companies traded lower, however. Energy Transfer Partners lost $3.53, or 9 percent, to $35.84 and Sunoco Logistics skided $2.44, or 9.3 percent, to $23.75. Energy Transfer Equity, the general partner of Energy Transfer Partners, picked up 63 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $17.92.
ORACLE SEES A DEAL: Business software maker Oracle said it will buy Dyn, a company that helps route internet traffic to its destination. A month ago Dyn was at the center of a huge cyberattack that temporarily stopped some American and European internet users from accessing popular websites like Netflix, Twitter and PayPal. The company said its server infrastructure was hit by distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks. Oracle’s stock lost 17 cents to $39.69.
MATERIAL MOVEMENT: Companies that make basic materials did better than most other industries. Copper and gold producer Freeport-McMoran climbed 66 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $14.39 as the price of copper rose. Fertilizer makers CF Industries and Mosaic both rose. CF Industries added $1.21, or 4.2 percent, to $30.17 and Mosaic rose 67 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $28.93.
CURRENCIES: The dollar, which is at a 13-year high, gave up some of its recent gains against some other currencies. The euro rose to $1.0626 from $1.0599. The dollar edged up to 110.74 yen from 110.63 yen.
BONDS: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.32 percent from 2.35 percent. Utilities traded higher. Those stocks tend to do better when bond yields are down.
OVERSEAS: Germany’s DAX picked up 0.3 percent while France’s CAC-40 index rose 0.5 percent. The FTSE 100 index in Britain dipped 0.2 percent. The Nikkei 225 of Japan rose 0.8 percent. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.4 percent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong edged up less than 0.1 percent.
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AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/marley-jay
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