US stocks: Blue chips up on oil, Symantec draqs on Nasdaq

NEW YORK - US blue chips rose slightly on Monday as oil prices slipped and alleviated worry about high energy costs cutting into corporate profits, but a 5 per cent slide in Symantec Corp.weighed on the Nasdaq.

Symantec shares continued to fall after its agreement to buy Veritas Software Corp. last week. The stock has fallen about 27 per cent since the deal was first reported. Symantec shares were off US$1.33 at US$24.04, while Veritas was down US$1.30, or almost 5 per cent, at US$26.45.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average was bolstered by gains in Honeywell International Inc. and Caterpillar Inc., which are both heavy users of energy. Honeywell shares rose almost 1 per cent or 27 cents to US$35.63, while Caterpillar was up 11 cents at US$94.35.

The Dow was up 11.68 points, or 0.11 per cent, to close at 10,661.60 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.46 of a point, or 0.04 per cent, to finish at 1,194.66. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 7.35 points, or 0.34 per cent, to end at 2,127.85.

"As we move to the end of the year, people are holding their breath and will try to preserve whatever gains they can," said Jim Fehrenbach, head of Nasdaq trading at Piper Jaffray. "We're really not running into much selling, but the Santa rally has come and gone."

Trading was active, with 1.4 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, matching the 1.4 billion daily average for last year. About 1.99 billion shares were traded on Nasdaq, above the 1.69 billion daily average last year.

On the NYSE, the number of stocks advancing was about equal to those on the decline. On Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancers by a ratio of about 2-to-1.

Earlier, US crude futures fell more than US$1 on Monday as the first bout of bitter cold weather in the US Northeast was forecast to be short-lived.

Crude for January delivery ended 64 cents lower at US$45.64 a barrel, despite concerns about supplies from the Middle East after Muslim militants renewed threats to attack oil facilities.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said on Saturday it still expects a 1 per cent to 3 per cent increase in December sales at its US stores open at least a year as sales of general merchandise and winter items improved in the latest week.

Wal-Mart shares ticked higher, rising 18 cents to US$52.20 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Saturday before Christmas typically marks the busiest shopping day of the season. Holiday sales are critical because they can account for as much as one-quarter of a retailer's annual sales. Sales have been tepid so far.

"No one's feeling great about retail and I think people are beginning to look to 2005, and if there is an emerging sentiment it's sceptical about the strength of the consumer in 2005, particularly in the absence of much more stimulus from Washington and higher energy prices," said Zachary Karabell, senior economic analyst, at Fred Alger Management, Inc.

Drug maker Pfizer Inc. slumped almost 6 per cent, or US$1.46, to US$24.29. A Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman said on Sunday that Pfizer has agreed to suspend its advertisements for arthritis drug Celebrex while US regulators review new data that link the drug to an elevated risk of heart attacks.

Merger activity continued with Exelon Corp., the largest US nuclear power company, agreeing to buy Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. for US$12.8 billion in stock. Exelon jumped 2.8 per cent, or US$1.19, to US$ 43.05 and Public Service Enterprise climbed 7 per cent, or US$3.29, to US$50.56.

Volume may trail off this week as traders wind down for Christmas. The market will be closed Friday, Dec. 24, the official observance in the United States of the Christmas holiday, which falls on Saturday this year.

- REUTERS