Post date: Feb 27, 2012 10:51:13 PM
Summary of business headlines: Dow fails in latest attempt to top 13,000; Gas prices jump 18 cents in two weeks -nationwide survey; TransCanada aims to restart Keystone pipeline project rejected by Obama White House.
Business Report - After several attempts, the Dow Jones Industrial Average once again failed to close above 13,000 for the first time since May of 2008.
But the focus of the day was not on equities, but energy.
The average price of a gallon of gasoline jumped 18 cents over the past two weeks, following a 12 cent rise the two weeks before that. And the nationwide Lundberg survey suggests the pain isn't over, because the full rise in crude oil prices is not yet reflected in the price at the pump. NYMEX crude had its first down day in eight sessions, but prices have risen about 10 percent since the start of the year.
Jan Stuart is head of energy research at Credit Suisse.
JAN STUART, HEAD OF ENERGY RESEARCH, CREDIT SUISSE (ENGLISH) SAYING:
"I think what's driving this is number one: better than appreciated oil demand growth - that's the scene setter if you will. And then there are a string of supply issues - not least of which is Yemen, Syria, the North Seas and so on, which are overwhelming the relatively good return of Libyan barrels."
A controversial energy pipeline stretching more than 1,600 miles from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast may be in the works again. TransCanada says it plans to complete building the southern part of its $7 billion pipeline, stretching from Oklahoma to Texas, by mid to late 2013. Plans to get the Northern part of the pipeline will have to wait. This is an attempt to address the Obama Administration's rejection of the pipeline in its entirety because of environmental concerns; a rejection Republicans described as a jobs killer.
Turning back to Wall Street, markets finished mixed after a choppy trading session.
A message from the G20 to the European Union on the debt crisis: you need to do more before we do anything else. That did not go over well with investors, and European stocks sagged by the end of the day.
Conway Gittens, Reuters