In equities trading early Monday, building insulation maker and distributor TopBuild jumped nearly 19 per cent on news that it was being acquired by building materials company QXO for US$17 billion, according to media reports. QXO shares dipped more than 4 per cent.
Airline stocks tumbled again, as they tend to when oil prices jump. American and Delta both fell 2.6 per cent while United fell 3.2 per cent. United may have taken the bigger hit after American shot down the notion of a merger with its rival, which was reportedly floated by United’s CEO last week at the White House.
On Friday, oil prices had dropped back to where they were in the early days of the Iran war, and US stocks raced to a fresh record after Iran said the strait was open again for commercial tankers carrying crude from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.
A freer flow of oil could relieve pressure on prices for gasoline and all kinds of other products that get moved by vehicles. It could even ultimately help people pay less on credit-card interest and mortgage bills.
At midday in Europe, Germany’s DAX lost 1.4 per cent and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 1.1 per cent, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.7 per cent.
Despite renewed doubts about how soon ships will again transport the vast amounts oil the world gets from the Middle East, share prices were mostly higher in Asia, though they gave up the bigger gains of earlier in the session.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.6 per cent to 58,824.89, while South Korea’s Kospi picked up 0.4 per cent to 6,219.09.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.8 per cent to 26,361.07 and the Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.8 per cent to 4,0802.13.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1 per cent higher to 8,953.30.
In Taiwan, the Taiex jumped 0.4 per cent. India’s Sensex rose 0.1 per cent and the SET in Bangkok lost 0.2 per cent.