(The Associated Press circulated the following on November 28.)
NEW YORK — Shares of railroad operators rose Wednesday after a Bear Stearns analyst said fourth-quarter volumes are continuing to improve – despite high oil prices and larger economic headwinds.
So far this quarter, analyst Edward Wolfe said, total rail carloads are down 0.9 percent. But that relatively modest decline marks an improvement over the 2.5 percent loss in last year’s third quarter.
Wolfe said the rails are benefiting from strong grain harvests boosting agricultural carloads, continued strength in chemical carloads and export growth credited to the weak U.S. dollar.
But while railroads are continuing to outperform other transportation stocks, Wolfe warned that high oil prices and economic weakness will likely put pressure on the rails’ fourth-quarter earnings.
Here’s how major railroads finished Wednesday:
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. rose $1.21 to $83.70.
Union Pacific Corp. gained $2.48 to $126.89.
Norfolk Southern Corp. climbed $1.23, or 2.5 percent, to $51.33.
CSX Corp. increased $1.30, or 3.2 percent, to $42.32.
Kansas City Southern advanced $1.17, or 3.5 percent, to $34.86.
Canadian National Railway Co. added $1.89, or 4 percent, to $48.82.
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. picked up $2.10, or 3.3 percent, $65.63.