Stocks Rise, Oil Hovers Near $100

Stocks are higher on Thursday, after two days of heavy losses. Crude oil, which hit $100 for the first time yesterday, is currently trading at $99.30.

Monsanto
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reported first quarter earnings that beat estimates, and said it now expects FY08 earnings of $2.50 to $2.60 (read more).

State Street
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announced it will take a net charge, after taxes, of $279 million in Q4. The charge is to establish a reserve to address legal exposure and other costs relating to active fixed-income strategies exposed to sub-prime mortgage markets (read more).

In related news, Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on State Street to “Negative” from “Stable” and downgraded the bank’s individual rating (read more).

Merck
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signed a licensing agreement with Addex Pharmaceuticals to develop a schizophrenia drug (read more).

Newmont Mining
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, which rose more than 7% yesterday to close at an 8-week high, is up more than 3% today as gold prices continue to soar (read more).

Market Snapshot

Dow

75.76 13119.72

NASDAQ

5.82 2615.45

S&P 500

7.64 1454.80

Strongest/Weakest Industry Groups

Strongest Industries

% Change

Weakest Industries

% Change
Non-metallic Mineral Mining
+6.87%
Foreign Regional Banks
-10.75%
Agricultural Chemicals
+6.11%
Money Center Banks
-10.17%
Gold
+4.67%
Diversified Machinery
-6.19%

Economic
News

Initial Claims (12/29): Actual 336K

Factory Orders (Nov): Actual 1.5%, Consensus 1.0%