New York markets mixed on news

The New York equities markets were mixed at midday on Monday on news from several sectors. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were lower, by 0.1 percent each to 11,497.13 and 1,314.15 respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.2 percent to 2,222.94.

Crude oil futures that fell below $60 per barrel sent the oil sector lower. Marathon Oil dropped 2.7 percent to $69.25, while Pride International, an oil services group, fell 3 percent to $25.46. Archer Daniels Midland declined 4.2 percent to $36.85 on comments from an investment commentator that ethanol would never seriously challenge oil as a fuel.

Metals prices were also lower, sending shares in miners tumbling. Coeur d’Alene fell 2.8 percent to $4.44, while Phelps Dodge was 3.1 percent lower to $80.16.

The tobacco sector saw losses when a federal court judge in New York let a class-action suit representing users of “light” cigarettes proceed in the courts. Reynolds American fell 2.7 percent to $60.36, while Altria dropped 4.3 percent to $78.82.

Drug retailers continued to decline after last week’s announcement by Wal-Mart that it was starting a pilot program to sell generic prescription drugs at $4 for a thirty-day supply. CVS declined 4.7 percent to $31.48, while Walgreen’s dropped 4.8 percent to $44.63 even though it said it saw profits increase by 25 percent in it’s fiscal forth quarter.