Stocks Fall as Rising Oil Prices Spark Inflation Fears

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Stocks fell sharply on Tuesday after oil prices climbed to a 15-week high and the dollar fell against the yen, touching off inflation fears.


The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 174.02 points, or 1.6 percent, to 10,611.20. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 17.43 points, or 1.5 percent, to 1,184.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 28.30 points, or 1.4 percent, to finish at 2,030.32.


Weakness in the dollar, which fell sharply against the Japanese yen and lost ground against other currencies, helped send crude futures soaring past $51 per barrel. Light sweet crude for March delivery settled at $51.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, an increase of $2.80. The March contract expired Tuesday, and April crude also settled at $51.42.


Shares of Van Nuys-based Superior Industries International Inc. jumped 2.8 percent to close at $27.75 after Credit Suisse First Boston raised its rating on the auto parts manufacturer’s stock to “neutral” from “underperform.”


Occidental Petroleum Corp. shares gained 0.3 percent to close at $68.05 after the L.A.-based oil and gas exploration company said it added 266 million barrels of oil equivalent of proven reserves during 2004 while producing 198 million barrels.


Shares of SeeBeyond Technology Corp. dropped 3.3 percent to $3.86 after the Monrovia-based business software provider said it had forged an agreement with consulting and technology firm Capgemini to market and deliver software infrastructure solutions to the Swedish health care sector. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.


And Teledyne Technologies Inc. lost 3 percent to close at $30.03 after the L.A.-based electronic components maker announced that its Teledyne Isco Inc. unit and its German subsidiary, STIP-Isco GmbH, agreed to sell the assets of STIP-Isco to Endress+Hauser. The transaction is expected to close prior to March 31. The terms were not disclosed.

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