Markets & Stocks
    SAVE   |   EMAIL   |   PRINT   |   RSS  
GM boosts Dow 30
Blue chips get a lift from automaker's deal with union, but broader market struggles as oil jumps.
October 17, 2005: 9:52 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - GM's deal with the United Auto Workers propelled the stock and gave the Dow industrials a lift Monday morning at the start of the first heavy week of quarterly earnings reports.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 0.64 to 10,286.70, Charts) gained 0.2 percent in the early going, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (up 1.06 to 1,187.63, Charts) index and the Nasdaq composite (down 0.58 to 2,064.25, Charts) barely budged.

Shares of General Motors (up $3.28 to $31.26, Research) rallied 11 percent at the open on news that the company has reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers (UAW) to cut healthcare costs. The savings should be roughly $1 billion per year in cash.

Separately, the automaker is reportedly considering selling a stake in GMAC, its finance unit. The upbeat news overshadowed the company's worse-than-expected quarterly loss.

Citigroup (up $0.42 to $45.46, Research) gained 1 percent after reporting higher than expected earnings that rose from a year earlier.

The morning's lone economic report offered a discouraging take on the manufacturing sector. The NY Empire State index, a regional read on manufacturing fell to 12.1 in October from 17.0 in September. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought it would rise to 19.0.

U.S. light crude oil for November delivery rose $1.15 to $63.78 a barrel in electronic trading.

Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the ten-year note to 4.46 percent from 4.48 percent late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The dollar rose versus the euro and yen.

COMEX gold rose $5.50 to $477.30 an ounce.

In global trade, major Asian markets ended mixed, and European markets rose at midday.  Top of page

YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in.

Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions.
Manage alerts | What is this?