NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Most stocks of Louisiana and Mississippi companies closed sharply higher Tuesday as the Dow Jones average jumped 5.8 percent for its best day of 2009.
Feeding off Citigroup’s announcement that it was profitable for the first two months of the year, some of the largest gainers were in the regional financial sector: Whitney Holding Corp. rose $1.58, or 18.4 percent, to close at $10.16; Hancock Holding Co. jumped $3.14, or 13.7 percent, to $26.09; BancorpSouth Inc. rose $2, or 12 percent, to $18.73, and Iberiabank Corp. added $4.38, or 11.4 percent, and closed at $42.98.
Gains in the petroleum sector, for the most part, were tempered as oil prices fell Tuesday from Monday’s two-month high. Light, sweet crude for April delivery dropped $1.36 to settle at $45.71 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Callon Petroleum Co. added 21 cents, to 21.7 percent, to close $1.18. PetroQuest Energy Inc. rose 5 cents, or 5.2 percent, to $1.01. Stone Energy Corp. added 11 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $2.37. McMoRan Exploration Co. rose 31 cents, or 8 percent, to $4.20. Energy Partners Ltd. added 1 cent, or 4 percent, and closed at 26 cents.
In the petroleum support sector, Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc. rose 62 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $11.40. Tidewater Inc. gained $1.43, or 4.5 percent, to $33.56. Among offshore construction companies, Gulf Island Fabrication Inc. was up 20 cents, or 3.9 percent, at $5.36, and Global Industries Ltd. added 17 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $3.19.
In the utility sector, Entergy Corp. was up $1.59, or 2.6 percent, at $62.80. Cleco Corp. rose 39 cents, or 2 percent, to $20.20.
Construction-engineering company The Shaw Group Inc. rose $2.13, or 9.5 percent, to close at $24.60.
Chemical maker Albermarle Corp. rose $1.05, or 6.5 percent, to $17.14.
Telecommunications provider CenturyTel Inc., jumped $1.76, or 7.5 percent, to $25.32.
Billboard provider Lamar Advertising Co. rose 77 cents, or 14.2 percent, to close at $6.21.
In the health care sector, Amedisys Inc. gained $1.48, or 5.7 percent, to $27.39, while LHC Group Inc. rose $1.22, or 7.2 percent, to $18.22.
Poultry producer Sanderson Farms Inc. gained $1.56, or 4.7 percent, to $35.09, while egg producer Cal-Maine Foods Inc. rose 82 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $18.07.
Swimming pool supplier Pool Corp. was up 68 cents, or 6 percent, to $12.07.
Funeral provider Stewart Enterprises Inc. was down 1 cent, or 0.5 percent, at $1.91.
——Contact The Dailt Reveille news staff at [email protected]