By William Watts and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch Airlines rally
after oil-price slide
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock index futures pointed to a
flat start Friday for Wall Street, with energy companies expected
to weigh on the market a day after the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries sent oil prices into collapse by
deciding to stand pat on its production target.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJZ4) erased an
earlier decline to rise 16 points, or 0.1%, to 17,826.40, while
S&P 500 index futures (SPZ4) lost 1.90 points, or 0.1%, to
2,070.40. The Nasdaq 100 index (NDZ4) rose 11 points, or 0.3%, to
4,328.75.
U.S. markets were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
U.S. stock and bond trading close early on Friday.
"With Black Friday upon us, investors are in the mood for some
early festive cheer. However, as November draws to a close
investors will reflect on what has been a difficult month with
falling oil prices and artificially inflated equities on the
promise of more central bank intervention," said Mike McCudden,
head of derivatives at Interactive Investor in London.
The Dow average and the S&P were hit by a drop in big oil
stocks and other and energy-related companies, which tracked oil
futures sharply lower. Crude oil for January (CLF5) shaved off more
than $4 from Wednesday's settlement price to trade at $69.35 a
barrel after hitting its lowest point in more than 4 1/2 years.
U.S. crude oil didn't settle on Thursday due to Thanksgiving, but
OPEC's decision to maintain its current production ceiling of 30
million barrels a day does little to remove the glut that is
keeping oil prices low.
Among major stock movers, Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) lost 3.7%
ahead of the open, Chevron Corp. (CVX) dropped 3.8%, Transocean
Ltd. (RIG) sank 8.3%, ConocoPhillips (COP) fell 5.1% and
Halliburton Co. (HAL) erased 5.5% of its value.
In Europe, the picture was the same, with oil heavyweights such
as BP PLC (BP) and Total SA (TOT) posting big losses..
On the flip side, transportation companies were getting a lift
from the prospect of lower energy prices. Delta Air Lines Inc.
(DAL) surged 5.1% in premarket, Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) rose
4.8% and Carnival Corp. (CCL) added 2.5%.
The moves, however, were seen in thin volumes. No major earnings
reports or data releases were expected on Friday, and U.S. markets,
in addition to the early closes, are expected to see a light
post-Thanksgiving session.
Leading up to the holiday, the S&P 500 (SPX) and Dow Jones
Industrial Average (DJI) scored their 47th and 30th record closes
this year, respectively, on Wednesday.
Black Friday frenzy: Retailers were in the spotlight during
early Friday, as shops opened the doors for their annual Black
Friday sales (with some having opened late Thursday). Retail shares
barely moved in premarket hours, but prominent companies such as
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), Amazon.com (AMZN), Macy's Inc. (M) and
Best Buy Co. (BBY) are worth watching later in the session.
Wal-Mart reported early Friday that Thanksgiving Day delivered
its second-highest online sales day ever, topped only by Cyber
Monday last year.
Other markets: European stocks were mired in the red, with
energy companies pulling the major benchmarks lower. Asian markets
closed mostly higher.
Metals prices (GCG5) showed weakness, hurt by a rise in the
dollar (DXY).
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