Wall Street closed slightly higher amid a flurry of deals and the naming of a new chief executive at Disney, but gains were limited by an increase in crude prices and concern over inflation and rising interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30.15, or 0.3 percent, to 10,804.51. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 6.75, or 0.6 percent, at 1,206.83. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 9.44, or 0.5 percent, to 2,051.04.
Walt Disney Co.’s naming of Robert Iger as a successor to Michael Eisner, as well as announcements of new chief executives at American International Group Inc. and Office Depot Inc. bolstered stocks. So did planned acquisitions by Altria Group Inc. and IBM Corp. But a rise in oil prices worried investors as a barrel of light crude settling at $54.95, up 52 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Among local companies, shares of North American Scientific Inc. gained 4.6 percent to close at $4.33 after the Chatsworth-based radiation oncology products manufacturer announced quarterly results. The company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $7.5 million (48 cents per diluted share), compared with a loss of $3.2 million (31 cents) for the like period a year earlier. Revenue increased to $9.8 million from $3.6 million in the comparable quarter of the prior year.
EMAK Worldwide Inc. rose 2 percent to $9 after the L.A.-based marketing services company announced that its subsidiary Upshot had been selected for the promotional business of Miller Brewing Co.
And shares of Walt Disney Co. jumped 1.6 percent after the second-largest media and entertainment company’s board elected President and Chief Operating Officer Robert Iger to succeed Chief Executive Michael Eisner when the latter retires on Sept. 30. The decision ended a months-long search that began when Eisner, under pressure from Disney’s board, announced last September that he would step down within a year.
On the down side, shares of ValueClick Inc. plunged 7.5 percent to $11.03 after the Westlake Village-based online advertiser’s stock was downgraded to “accumulate” from “buy” by ThinkEquity Partners. The 12-month price target was set at $13 per share.
