Closing Bell: Oil surge drowns equities

Posted May 5th 2008 4:20PM by Jon Ogg
Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Bank of America (BAC), Countrywide Financial (CFC)

Maybe it was tightening bank standards, maybe it was strong business orders for the services sector. Or, maybe it was a big hike in oil prices back to the $120 mark. Stocks took it on the chin today. Below are the unofficial closes for the major US index readings:

DJIA 12,968.97 (-89.23; -0.68%)
S&P500 1,407.48 (-6.42; -0.45%)
NASDAQ 2,464.12 (-12.87; -0.52%)
10YR-TBond 3.845% (unch.)
52-WEEK LOW CLUB

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) traded much lower, bringing Wall Street down after Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) withdrew its $43.7 billion bid to acquire Yahoo Saturday. Shares fell 15% to $24.37.

Aircastle Limited (NYSE: AYR) flew after the announcement that two subsidiaries of the aircraft lessor entered into 7-year $786.1 million debt facility on a 28 aircraft portfolio with a floating interest rate one-month LIBOR plus 1.75%. Proceeds will payoff amounts outstanding on aircrafts. Shares rose almost 17% to $16.15.

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) rose after rumors that Deutsche Telekom, the parent of T-mobile, may be pondering an offer for the struggling wireless communication company. Late in the day the WSJ noted that NexTel's Shares rose 10% to $8.72.

Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) slipped after an analyst report noting that Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) may (or should) renegotiate the buyout price or possibly walk-away from a deal. In January, Bank of America agreed to buy Countrywide for $4 billion. Shares fell 10% to $5.36.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was up after an upgrade by American Technology Research. The analyst upgraded the company to buy from neutral and the price target was set at $210. Shares rose 2% to $184.73.

Tags: aircastle limited, AircastleLimited, american technology research, AmericanTechnologyResearch, deutsche telekom, DeutscheTelekom, t-mobile