(The Associated Press circulated the following on August 20.)
NEW YORK — Railroad shares gained in Wednesday trading, after the broader market rose as oil prices reversed course and headed down.
West Texas crude lost $1.34 at $113.19 a barrel at midday on the New York Mercantile Exchange following the Energy Department’s weekly petroleum inventories report. It showed the nation’s crude inventories rose by a hefty 9.4 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 15. That is much higher than the average analyst forecast for a 1.7 million-barrel increase from energy information provider Platts.
Investors also mulled a good news-bad news Rand Corp. report that said freight volume in the U.S. should double over the next 30 years, but incremental improvements in railroad capacity and infrastructure may not be enough to handle the big increase.
More encouraging, in the near term at least, Morgan Keegan analyst Art Hatfield wrote in a note to investors this week that demand for rail carloadings increased 0.9 percent so far in the third quarter compared to a decline of 0.6 percent in the second quarter.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe shares rose 36 cents to $98.38. Norfolk Southern added 7 cents at $68.03. Canadian Pacific lost 62 cents at $58.13, and Canadian National gave up 74 cents at $48.76.
Union Pacific rose $1.38 to $78.01. CSX gained 52 cents at $60.37, and Kansas City Southern rose 19 cents to $49.54.