Energy and oil drive Wall Street higher – New York Report
Arise in energy stocks due to an increase in oil prices after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border yesterday pulled New York indices up.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 19.51 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 17,812.19, the S&P 500 gained 2.55 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 2,089.14 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.33 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 5,102.81.
Oil prices were up more than two per cent after a spike in Middle East tensions.
“You came in this morning and everybody was talking about this potential escalation of violence between Turkey and Russia,” said Andrew Frankel, co-president of Stuart Frankel & Co in New York. He added that investors settled down after it appeared that Russia’s response would not be as confrontational as first feared.
Relatively light trading appeared to exaggerate swings in the market, according to Frankel, as many market participants were away ahead of the US Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow.
Travel-related stocks fell after the US State Department issued a global travel alert for Americans. The Dow Jones Airlines index ended down 2.7 per cent, led by a five per cent decline in Allegiant Travel. United Continental, Delta Air Lines and Spirit Airlines all fell around three per cent.
Six of the 10 major S&P sectors rose and energy led with a 2.4 per cent increase, followed by a 0.8 per cent rise in materials.
Hewlett-Packard shares fell 3.4 per cent in extended trading after the close when it reported a revenue decline for the fifth straight quarter, its last before it split into two companies.