Business news with words amex+group. 31 news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Delta Air Lines and ExpressJet Holdings saw their shares rise 2.1% and 3.6%, respectively, to pace a broad advance in the airline sector on the last trading day of the year. The Amex Airline Index added almost 1% to 34.69 points on Monday even as crude advanced toward $97 a barrel. Frontier Airlines , Mesa Air Group and JetBlue Airways were the only decliners among the 14 components in the benchmark index.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Energy stocks drifted slightly lower at the open Monday, the final session of 2007, amid sharply lower volume. Early action saw shares of Delta Petroleum Corp. jump as much as 24% to $19.30 a share after Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. announced it was taking a 35% stake in the company at $19 a share. But the news failed to spur gains elsewhere in the group. The Amex Oil Index was off 0.2% at 1,574 points, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index was down 1% at 303, and the Amex Natural Gas Index was essentially unchanged at 580 points.

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Drug stocks stocks followed the broader market into positive territory Friday during a relatively calm trading morning for the sectors on Wall Street. Theravance Inc. was a notable standout, with shares sliding 9% to $19.45. The biotech group said late Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration was considering holding an advisory panel meeting to discuss whether to approve its new antibiotic telavancin. The agency declined to approve the drug's application in October, stating it needed more information. The Amex Pharmaceutical Index and the Amex Biotechnology Index were both up fractionally at 343.15 and 799.25, respectively.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Mesa Air Group Inc. shares dropped more than 4% early Friday, leading a broad decline in the sector after the carrier delayed the release of its fourth-quarter results, citing an ongoing review. Crude oil rose 86 cents to $97.48 a barrel, also pressuring the group. The Amex Airline Index lost less than 1% to 34.90 points with ExpressJet Holdings , SkyWest Inc. and AirTran Holdings the only three of the 14 components in the benchmark index logging gains. AMR Corp. and UAL Corp. both shed more than 3%.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline stocks took an early turn into positive territory Monday, led by 3% gains for American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and US Airways Group . The Amex Airlines Index was ahead 1.5% in early trades at 37.04 points, drawing strength from lower fuel prices to outpace a 0.6% rise in the broader equities market. Volume is likely to be light in the shortened pre-holiday session, which wraps it all up ahead of Christmas at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Oil and gas stocks were stuck in a tight trading range at the open Thursday, lacking direction from the underlying commodities market. The Amex Oil Index was fractionally higher at 1,501 points while the Philadelphia Oil Service Index was off 0.1% at 287.6. The Amex Natural Gas Index was up 0.8% at 567 points ahead of the Energy Information Administration's weekly natural gas inventory data. Among individual issues, Hess Corp. was the biggest mover in the oil group, down 2.2% on a downgrade by Citigroup to hold from buy. Crude-oil for February delivery was up 12 cents at $91.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after slipping below $91 in overnight trade.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline shares added to the prior session's gains in early trading Thursday. The Amex Airline Index rose 0.7% with nine of 14 stocks in the benchmark index trading higher. American Airlines parent AMR Corp. led gainers with a 2% rise. Alaska Airways Group shares climbed 1.7% after the company told investors it expected fourth-quarter capacity at its main Alaska Airlines carrier to rise 4% to nearly 6 billion available seat miles while costs per available seat mile come in flat with the same period last year, or fall 1% to 2% excluding fuel. The major indexes rose modestly, while crude oil futures slipped.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline shares retrenched Friday after enthusiasm sparked by Deutsche Lufthansa's decision to take a stake in JetBlue Airways Group waned and an inflation report pressured the major indexes. The Amex Airline Index fell 0.3% to 37.15 points in opening trade with eight of 14 stocks in the benchmark index trading lower. JetBlue rose 1%; Bear Stearns upgraded shares to peer perform, saying Lufthansa's $300 million cash injection buys the discount carrier more time to execute its turnaround. Continental Airlines, Inc. shares gained 1.5%; JP Morgan Chase raised earnings estimates, saying the carrier's fourth-quarter update points to a profit in the quarter vs. a loss.

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Neurocrine Biosciences led drug stocks into negative territory early Friday, as shares of the biotech group fell for a second day on news that the Food and Drug Administration is requiring the company to run additional clinical studies before it will approve its insomnia drug indiplon. The Amex Pharmaceutical Index dipped 0.8% to 350.29 and the Amex Biotechnology Index slipped 0.6% to 801.12. Neurocrine shares were down 7% at $4.88.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline shares slipped in early trading Tuesday, pressured by a rise in crude oil prices to over $89 a barrel. The Amex Airline Index fell 0.7% to 40.24, led by a nearly 2% drop in the shares of US Airways Group, Inc. and a 1.8% fall in the shares of Northwest Airlines Corp. . Alaska Air Group shares rose 1.3%. The January crude oil contract was last up $1.35 at $89.21 a barrel. The major indexes edged higher ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate meeting.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oil and gas stocks fell despite a recovery in the broad market as the energy sector followed crude futures prices down in early action Tuesday. The Amex Oil Index fell 1% to 1,376. Hess Oil was the biggest decliner in the group with a drop of 3.2% to $66.15. The Amex Natural Gas Index gave up 1% to 533. Oil services shares fell despite a 3.4% upward move by Transocean as it cleared its last regulatory hurdles to closing its acquisition of Global Santa Fe. Oil futures dropped $2.71 to $94.99 on the Nymex after Saudi Arabia confirmed it's boosted production and Iran signaled it has additional production capacity, according to press reports. Tesoro gave up another 3.5% to $48.23 after Tracinda pulled a $64 a share tender offer for the oil refiner.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline shares rose across the board Tuesday as crude oil prices dropped by nearly $3 a barrel. The Amex Airline Index rose 3.4% in early trading, with all 14 stocks in the benchmark index climbing. Leading gainers, Alaska Air Group shares rose 8.3% to $24.26 after the carrier updated investors on its fourth-quarter outlook. Also, Goldman Sachs upgraded Alaska shares to neutral from sell.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline stocks opened Monday's session mostly in the red despite a pullback in the price of crude following one of the biggest holiday travel periods of the year. The Amex Airline Index shed 0.5% to 39 points, with ExpressJet Holdings leading decliners, down 3%. Alaska Air Group and JetBlue Airways were the biggest winners, but added less than 1% each. Crude fell 47 cents to $97.71 a barrel.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline stocks dropped hard early Wednesday along with the broader stock market as crude oil closed in on the triple digit mark. The Amex Airline Index shed 3.8% to 36.60 points, with all 14 components in the benchmark gauge moving south on one of the busiest holiday travel days of the year. Crude oil prices rose another 49 cents $98.51 a barrel, off slightly from an overnight high of more than $99 a barrel. Mesa Air Group led decliners, down 8.6% at $3.28, while Continental Airlines escaped most of the damage, down less than 1%.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline stocks opened sharply lower Monday, extending recent losses into a third straight session as crude oil prices ticked higher. The Amex Airline Index dropped 3.5% to 40.39 points with Northwest Airlines Corp. and US Airways Group leading percentage decliners, both down about 5%. Crude-oil for January delivery was last trading 13 cents higher at $93.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exhange after briefly topping $95 in overnight electronic trade.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline shares gave up some of the week's gains Wednesday, starting the trading day with a broad loss. The Amex Airline Index fell 0.7% with all but 3 of 14 stocks in the benchmark index falling. Shares in Delta Air Lines, Inc. and US Airways Group, Inc. lost nearly 2% each. The sector sat out a move higher in the broader market. Crude oil futures strengthened, souring sentiment for airlines. The December contract was ahead $1.76 to $92.94 a barrel in New York trade.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline shares shot up in early trade Tuesday as crude oil futures took another step backward toward $93 a barrel. The Amex Airline Index rose 1.4%, led by over 2% gains in the shares of JetBlue Airways Corp. , Continental Airlines, Inc. and US Airways Group, Inc. . Crude oil for December delivery was down $1 at $93.62 a barrel after the International Energy Agency cut its estimate of global oil demand for this year and next, citing record-high oil prices.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline shares rallied at the open Monday, lifted by a drop in oil prices to under $94 a barrel. The Amex Airline Index rose nearly 3% to 40.77 points with all but one of the benchmark index's components rising. US Airways Group, Inc. [s:lcc] shares jumped nearly 6%, followed by roughly 5% gains in shares of AMR Corp. , Continental Airlines, Inc. , Alaska Airways Group and Delta Air Lines, Inc. . SkyWest Inc. shares fell 1% after the regional airline operator said its load factor, or percent of its planes filled, slipped in October.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- US Airways Group, Inc. shares were downgraded Friday to neutral from buy by Goldman Sachs analyst Robert Barry, who forecast "rising U.S. macro pressure will make fuel headwinds harder for [US Airways] to offset, especially with less international flying vs. peers." Barry also cut his six-month price target to $24 from $31 a share. Among other reasons for his darkened view of the stock, Barry said consolidation and asset sales will remain a driver of airline stock performance, "and in this regard we think [US Airways] falls short of peers." Shares fell 3.5% in midmorning trading, worse than a 2.5% drop in the Amex Airline Index .

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline shares failed to get a respite Friday from a drop in oil prices to just over $95 a barrel, instead taking the lead from a sell-off in the broader market. The Amex Airline Index lost 2.7% to 39.62 points, worse than the over 1% losses in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500. US Airways Group, Inc. shares fell 4.5% to $21.05. Goldman Sachs downgraded shares in the carrier to neutral from buy and cut its target price to $24. JetBlue Airways Group shares lost 7.4% to $7.20. Late Thursday, the New York carrier said its chief financial officer resigned to pursue other, unnamed professional interests.