Crude Oil Lower - Airlines Higher: SKYW, JBLU, GOL

Published on Tuesday, 31 August 2010 17:02 Written by Danny Miller

New York, August 31st (TradersHuddle.com) - The NYSE Airline index ended the session higher by closing at $38.47, which represents 1.51% versus its previous day close. The airline index had a pretty much broad rally with 11 out of 13 airlines trading higher.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) was the top performer of the sector today closing at $12.74 representing 5.29%. versus the previous trading session. Shares of SkyWest, the regional airline servicing major airlines like Delta and United have defined support at $11.97 and resistance at $13.62.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) was also among the top performers, closed the trading session at $5.71 representing 3.26% from its previous close. JetBlue Airways, the New York based discount airline has calculated support and resistance levels at $5.31 and $6.15 respectively. The other top performer was Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (NYSE:GOL), which closed the trading session at $13.12 representing 2.74% from the previous trading session.

The sector's worst performers include AMR (NYSE:AMR) that closed the trading session at $6.12 or -0.81% from the previous close. Shares of AMR, the owner and operator of the 2nd largest U.S. based airline and founder member of the Oneworld airline alliance have defined support at $5.86 and resistance at $7.04. Also among the worst performers was Alaska Air (NYSE:ALK), which closed the trading session at $44.23 representing -0.32% from the previous trading session.

Benchmark crude for October delivery was lower closing the trading session at $73.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange lower by $-0.97 from the previous trading session. Crude prices are closely watched by traders as they usually correlate with the airline stocks, given that a big component of the airlines' cost structure is covered by the price of fuel.