Stocks managed a modest gain Wednesday, but concerns over high energy costs, and their threat to the economy, continued to weigh on the market.
The Dow Jones industrial average, after fluctuating between positive and negative territory throughout the session, ended the day up 16.88, at 10,473.09.
A solid 1.9 percent upturn in IBM shares helped, as did a third straight rise for Boeing.
But some economy-sensitive cyclicals like Caterpillar, which was down 1.99 percent, came under pressure, muting the improvement in the blue-chip barometer.
Stocks opened stronger, after a government report showed that durable goods orders were stronger than expected in August. But reports of the pre-Katrina U.S. economy don’t command much investor attention, because the hurricane, by shuttering factories, driving up petroleum prices and spurring large new government expenditures, has altered the economic picture so drastically.
And Wednesday’s energy-related news proved to be much less positive than the August manufacturing data. A trade group warned that hurricane-related supply disruptions along the Gulf Coast promise significantly higher natural gas prices this winter. Heating oil and gasoline futures climbed. And the price of crude oil for November delivery rose $1.28, to close at $66.35.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index inched up 1.23 points, to 1216.89, while the Nasdaq composite index declined 1.02 points, to 2115.40.
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The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was off 3.13, at 656.04.
Treasury securities, which often move in the opposite direction of equity markets, closed higher Wednesday. The benchmark 10-year bond rose 5/32, to yield 4.26 percent.
Big movers: Fannie Mae shares tumbled $4.99, or 10.7 percent, to an eight-year low of $41.71, after a published report said investigators had found serious new accounting violations at the mortgage finance concern.
– Daimler-Chrysler shares rose 3.8 percent, to $54.83, after the company said it intends to eliminate 8,500 jobs at its Mercedes unit.
– Payroll-services provider Paychex Inc. climbed 9.3 percent, to $37.25, after the company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings.
Local stocks: Tribune Co. shares dropped $1.53, or 4.3 percent, to $34.22, their lowest level in four years, after the media holding company disclosed it faces a tax bill of up to $1 billion after a court ruled against it in a long-running dispute with the IRS. The Chicago-based publishing and broadcast concern inherited the legal-fight-turned-financial-millstone when it purchased Los Angeles Times owner Times Mirror Co. in 2000.
– Hartmarx stumbled $1.40, or 17 percent, to a 52-week low of 6.79, after the apparel-maker, citing soft retail demand, turned in disappointing fiscal third-quarter results and trimmed its guidance for the current quarter.
– Exelon shares eased 21 cents, to $53.79, after Chief Executive John Rowe told a financial conference in New York that the utility holding company’s Commonwealth Edison unit could face bankruptcy if Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich succeeds in thwarting ComEd’s plans for a deregulated state energy market. Exelon shares are down about 4.3 percent since last week, when Blagojevich replaced the head of the state’s utility regulatory commission with a consumer advocate who has long been a utility critic.
– Woodward Governor shares, which have enjoyed a significant run-up since April, fell $3.64, or 4.3 percent, to close at $81.31. After the market closed Wednesday, the Rockford-based provider of energy-control systems for aircraft said directors had approved a 3-1 stock split, subject to stockholder approval.
One more study: “Reading, Writing and Raisinets.” That’s the title of a recent National Bureau of Economic Research study, which found financially stressed school systems are more likely to make junk food available to their students and to consequently have a higher proportion of obese teens in their classrooms.