| Closing Glance: Airline Stocks End Mixed
Airline shares ended mixed Tuesday, mimicking the day's indecision in the stock and energy markets. Broad indicators were split, with the Dow Jones industrial average moving modestly lower and the Standard & Poor's 500 index pushing fractionally higher. Crude prices, which affect airline stocks because of the industry's heavy exposure to fuel costs, wavered throughout the day before ending higher. Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose 36 cents to settle at $101.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Here's a look at how key airline shares fared Tuesday: AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, up a penny to $9.63 Continental Airlines Inc., down 12 cents to $21.17 Delta Air Lines Inc., down 4 cents to $9.97 Southwest Airlines Co., up 28 cents to $12.46 United Airlines parent UAL Corp., up 49 cents to $24.13 .
Gasoline prices setting records all over state
Pain at the pump just hit a record high, with Bay Area and California gas prices smashing through past records one day after oil prices did the same. The average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gas hit $3.51 in the East Bay on Tuesday, 32 cents higher than just one month ago and 74 cents higher than the price one year ago. That price was one penny higher than Tuesday's new statewide record of $3.50 a gallon, according to AAA of Northern California. San Francisco prices hit $3.64 a gallon, another record. Statewide gas prices are now 58 cents a gallon higher than the same time last year. The previous record was $3.49, set on May 9, 2007. And the worst may yet be to come, an AAA spokesman warned. "It's particularly troubling from the consumer's perspective that this is happening at this time of year, when we often see prices that are relatively low," said AAA's Sean Comey.
Weak Open Expected For New Zealand Stocks
(RTTNews) - New Zealand shares are poised for a weak open on Wednesday, following a negative lead from Wall Street and a drop in reported consumer confidence. A Westpac/McDermott Miller survey published Wednesday showed consumer sentiment in New Zealand fell to a ten-year low in the first quarter of 2008. New Zealand shares advanced broadly in early trading Tuesday, but relinquished most of their gains by day's end. At the close, the benchmark NZSX-50 Index marked a gain of 4.57 points or 0.13 percent at 3,430.28. Total market turnover was valued at NZ$138 million. Among the individual stocks of interest, Telecom Corporation of New Zealand managed a gain of .03 on volume of more than 16 million shares changing hands, but other blue chip issues were unable to follow Telecom to higher ground.
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