US stocks: Blue chips rise

NEW YORK - US blue chips edged higher on Monday as rising oil prices helped lift energy shares such as Exxon Mobil Corp., but weighed on the broad market.

US crude oil futures prices gained 2 per cent on supply concerns related to tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions. An index of oil producers' shares rose 1.42 per cent.

On Nasdaq, semiconductor shares led losses after Banc of America Securities and UBS cut their price targets on the semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials Inc. and related stocks.

Shares of Boeing Co., a Dow component, hit an all-time high on hopes for more plane orders.

"Further headwinds have been created in the form of higher oil prices and a further advance in the overall market may prove more difficult," said Tim Biggam, options strategist at Man Securities, an options brokerage firm in Chicago.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 21.29 points, or 0.19 per cent, to end at 11,141.33. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.12 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 1,296.62. But the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 5.75 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 2,333.27.

Investors' first look at earnings came as the world's largest aluminum producer, Alcoa Inc., kicked off the reporting period after Monday's market close. Alcoa reported first-quarter net income more than doubled, beating analysts' estimates, on high metal prices.

In regular trading hours, Alcoa rose 1 per cent, or 33 cents, to close at US$32.83 on the New York Stock Exchange, ahead of the results.

Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company by market value, rose 1 per cent, or 61 cents, to US$61.94 on the NYSE. Chevron Corp. gained 1.8 per cent, or US$1.07, to US$59.72.

US May crude oil futures jumped US$1.35, or 2 per cent, to settle at US$68.74 a barrel, after hitting US$68.95, a fresh nine-week high, during Nymex trading. Oil prices climbed as escalating tension between the West and Iran over its nuclear ambitions raised concerns about disruption of oil supplies.

Shares of Boeing hit a record high of US$80.92 after an analyst, who had been pessimistic about the stock, said it has short-term upside potential in the run-up to the Farnborough International Air Show. The stock closed at US$80.79, up 1.5 per cent, or US$1.22, on the NYSE.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 0.4 per cent, or 18 cents, to US$41.88 after the No. 3 US bank said it will swap its corporate trust unit, valued at US$2.8 billion, for Bank of New York Co.'s 338 retail branches and small business banking network, valued at US$3.1 billion.

Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. fell after Morgan Stanley on Monday trimmed its earnings forecast for the first quarter and 2007 by a penny.

Wal-Mart dropped 0.7 per cent, or 32 cents, to US$45.70 on the NYSE.

Banc of America Securities cut its price target on the semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials. The stock fell almost 2 per cent, or 35 cents, to US$17.69. UBS cut its rating on the company and three related stocks.

Trading was moderate on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1.35 billion shares exchanged, below last year's daily average of 1.61 billion. On Nasdaq, about 1.88 billion shares traded, slightly above last year's daily average of 1.80 billion.

On both the NYSE and the Nasdaq, decliners outpaced advancers by a ratio of about 8 to 6.

- REUTERS