Tupperware Corp, a seller of food containers, tumbled US$1.90 to US$12.89. First-quarter results were "significantly" hurt after snowstorms in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states slowed sales, the company said.
JD Edwards & Co fell US$1.14 to US$11.19. The company, which makes accounting management software, reported disappointing revenue from its services business in the fiscal first quarter, said analyst Kash Rangan of Wachovia Securities. The company forecast second-quarter profit of US$0.06 to US$0.07 a share, less than the 8-cent average estimate of analysts surveyed by First Call.
American Electric Power Co rose US$0.90 to US$21.63, OGE Energy Corp gained US$0.48 to US$17.40 and Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. advanced US$0.67 to US$40.42. Lehman Brothers Inc analyst Daniel Ford upgraded electricity stocks to "neutral" from "negative" and raised his ratings on the three companies, saying the are better bargains after price declines and as the risk of restated financial results has declined.
Allegheny Energy Inc rose US$0.39 to US$7.89. The owner of utilities in five US states agreed with its lenders not to restore its dividend, preserving cash as it seeks to avoid bankruptcy by refinancing at least US$1.3 billion in debt.
Benchmark indexes briefly slumped around 10:20am after a barge carrying gasoline exploded at a petroleum terminal owned by Exxon Mobil Corp on Staten Island, the southernmost part of New York City. The explosion renewed concern about terrorism, traders and investors said. The FBI said it was a refueling accident, and there was no indication the blast was the work of terrorists.
Exxon Mobil shares rose US$0.55 to US$34.18.
RSS