Oil Prices Push Down Indexes

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A surge in oil prices sent the major stock indexes to their lowest level of the year Friday as investors overlooked strong earnings from General Electric Co. and United Technologies Corp.


The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 78.48, or 0.8 percent, to 10,392.99. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 7.54, or 0.6 percent, to 1,167.87, and the Nasdaq dropped 11.61, or 0.6 percent, to 2,034.27.


Oil futures prices rose above $48 per barrel on Friday due to concerns about possible OPEC production cuts and frigid weather in the Northeast. Light sweet crude for February delivery rose $1.22 to $48.53 a barrel after reaching a high of $48.95 during the open-call session. Brent crude was up $1.41 at $45.73 on the International Petroleum Exchange.


General Electric Co. posted an 18 percent rise in quarterly profit, beating earnings estimates by a penny per share for the quarter. United Technologies Corp. said its quarterly profit edged up 10.5 percent as the construction boom in Asia boosted its Otis elevator and Carrier heating and air conditioning businesses.


On the local front, shares of Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. jumped 5.1 percent to settle at $6 after the L.A.-based company’s stock was upgraded to “overweight” from “neutral” by JP Morgan. Also, it was reported Friday that a former general counsel for the firm will pay nearly $305,000 to settle an SEC lawsuit over claims he helped mislead investors.


And Santa Monica-based Activision Inc.’s shares rebounded slightly from yesterday’s dip, rising 0.5 percent to $21.52, after new coverage was initiated on its stock by Bear Stearns & Co. and Soleil Securities, setting the levels at “peer perform” and “buy,” respectively. On Thursday, shares of the nation’s second-largest videogame maker fell on news that it had bought closely held Vicarious Visions for an undisclosed price.


On the down side, shares of Napster Inc. dropped 4.6 percent to close at $7.98 after the L.A.-based digital music firm announced it was selling 7.1 million shares to institutional investors for proceeds of about $52.2 million. Napster said it will use the proceeds to launch its Napster To Go portable subscription service and for potential acquisitions.


And IMPCO Technologies Inc. fell 3.3 percent to $5.92 after the company said it plans to raise $22 million by issuing 4 million shares to the public. Impco, which makes auto products for engines using propone and natural gas, plans to use $10 million in proceeds to buy a 50 percent interest in an Italian company co-owned by Impco’s Chief Executive Mariano Costamagna.

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