Lower oil prices help New York markets higher

Dropping crude oil prices put investors in a better mood, sending the New York equities markets up at the mid-point of the session on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6 percent to 11,355.13, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.9 percent higher to 2,159.29. The S&P 500 also added 0.6 percent, to 1,302.33.

Oil prices, which fell after weather forecasters said it was not likely that tropical storm Ernesto would hit any oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, sent shares in oil companies lower. Occidental Petroleum was 1.6 percent lower to $52.58, while Valero Energy dropped 2.3 percent to $60.98.

Internet stocks were up on the day. Google and Ebay both advanced after the two companies said that they would collaborate on advertising. Google added 1.6 percent to $379.34, while Ebay was 2.1 percent higher to $25.82. Elsewhere in the sector, Amazon advanced by 3.2 percent to $28.92 on news of a stock buy-back worth $500 million.

In other computer related sectors, chipmaker Intel gained 1.8 percent to $19.23 and Dell Computer added 2.1 percent to $22.21.

Package delivery company FedEx was up 2.1 percent to $101.23 after it reached a provisional agreement for a four-year contract with its pilots’ union over the weekend.

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