Real Estate, Oil Prices Hit Stocks

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Real estate and oil, two important sectors for local public companies, weighed heavily on the stock market on Monday.


All three major indexes fell after oil prices hit new highs near $64 a barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21.1 points to 10,536.93, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 13.52 to 2164.39. The S & P; 500 Index fell 3.29 to 1,223.13


Fears of a supply interruption in Saudi Arabia sent oil prices higher. Shares of L.A.-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. rose 94 cents, or 1.2 percent, to 82.31. El Segundo-based Unocal Corp., which has agreed to be purchased by Chevron Corp., rose 1.2 percent to $65.66.


And shares of Chatsworth-based Capstone Turbine Corp. rose 27.4 percent to $3.39 after President Bush signed into law an energy bill that will give companies a 10 percent tax incentive to adopt microturbines for their energy supplies.


Homebuilders continue to swoon, as rising long-term interest rates threaten to deflate the housing market. After falling 5.2 percent last week, shares of Calabasas-based homebuilder Ryland Group Inc. fell $2.16, or 2.8 percent, to $74.44. L.A.-based KB Home shares fell $2.05, or 2.8 percent, to $72.45 after falling 9.1 percent last week.


Real estate investment trusts also fell, after Barron’s led Monday’s issue with a negative story about the office property market. Mall developer Macerich Cos. fell $3.40, or 5.2 percent, to $62.35, while office REIT Arden Realty Inc. fell 3.4 percent to $36.92 and office/laboratory REIT Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. fell 2.7 percent to $74.95.


Other locally based REITs also fell: Public Storage Inc., down 3.2 percent; Health Care Property Investors Inc., down 5.1 percent; Kilroy Realty Corp., down 2.8 percent; and Maguire Properties, down 4.1 percent.

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