Stocks Fall on Record Oil Prices

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Stocks ended the week lower as oil topped $67 a barrel, pushing up import prices, while disappointing sales from computer and component makers also dragged down the indexes.


The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 85.58 points, or 0.8 percent, to 10,600.31. The S & P; 500 Index dropped 7.42 points, or 0.6 percent to 1,230. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 17.65 points, or .81 percent, to 2,156.90, led by disappointing earnings from Dell Inc., Intel Corp. and International Business Machines Corp.


Oil reached another new record Friday due to continuing concern over refinery outages and supply. By day’s end, prices backed down slightly to close at $66.86 per barrel, up $1.06 from the previous close.


The trade deficit exceeded last year’s all-time high by 6.1 percent in June, according to Commerce Department data, reaching $58.8 billion. At the same time, the high cost of oil drove up import prices by 1.1 percent, while economists were only expecting a 0.7 percent rise.


Local movers included apparel maker Mossimo Inc., whose shares gained 21 percent to close at $5.65 after strong sales of its brand at Target Corp., doubling its earnings from a year ago.


Health Net Inc. rose 2.3 percent to $42.31 per share after the company reported improved second-quarter earnings. Shares got a boost from Prudential Equity analysts who raised the company’s price target.


On the downside, Jamdat Mobile Inc. lost 25.57 percent of its value, closing at $21.95 per share after reporting a weak earnings forecast for the current third quarter.


Shares of Pomona-based Keystone Automotive Industries fell 5.4 percent to $25.75 after the company met reduced earnings expectations for the quarter. The company blamed hurricanes in Florida, Louisiana and Alabama for lower sales.

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