Stocked dipped lower on Tuesday as investors reacted to Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into the Gulf Coast, crippling oil refineries and sending oil prices surging.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 50.23, or 0.5 percent, at 10,412.82. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 3.87, or 0.3 percent, to 1,208.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 7.89, or 0.4 percent, to 2,129.76.
The shutdown of oil platforms, refineries and pipelines along the Gulf Coast drove energy prices to new highs on fears that already tight refinery capacity would be further constrained. Light sweet crude for October delivery rose $2.70 to settle at $69.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had reached as high as $70.85, a new high on the Nymex.
Among local companies, shares of CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. gained 6.8 percent to $46.19 after the El Segundo-based commercial real estate services company’s stock rating was raised to “outperform” from “neutral” by analyst Joshua Rosen at Credit Suisse First Boston. Rosen expects the shares to reach $53 within 12 months.
Capstone Turbine Corp. gained for a second day, rising 11.7 percent to $5.14 after First Albany Corp. analyst Sanjay Shrestha wrote in a note that the maker of turbines for power generation should benefit from management additions, an increased focus on distribution channels in cities and a 10 percent tax credit for microturbine purchases under the recent energy bill. On Monday, Shrestha had raised Capstone’s stock rating to “buy” from “neutral.”
Staar Surgical Co. rose 12.8 percent to $4.85 after the Monrovia-based maker of ophthalmic products said health regulators from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had begun a pre-approval inspection on the company’s facility related to its application to market its Visian ICL implant to correct nearsightedness.
Shares of IndyMac Bancorp Inc. fell 4.6 percent to $39.70 after the company’s stock rating was downgraded to “neutral” from “buy” by analyst Robert Lacoursiere at Banc of America. Lacoursiere also cut IndyMac’s price target to $41 a share from $47 a share.
And Hot Topic Inc. lost 1.2 percent to $13.91 after the City of Industry-based mall retailer reported a 7.1 percent dip in comparable store sales in August, which still managed to beat analysts’ estimates of a 7.6 percent decrease. Total sales for the month ending Aug. 27 rose to $70.7 million, a 6 percent rise over the year-earlier period.
