Oil breaches $58/barrel

Stocks for oil companies were generally up in New York, London, and Tokyo on Monday as the price of a barrel of crude oil went above $58 for the first time in history.

Despite this, all three markets were lower overall, mostly on fears that rising oil prices would negatively impact profits in other sectors, especially in Western markets.

An example of this was Best Buy, the American electronics retailer, whose stocks fell on fears that sales could suffer in the wake of higher oil prices.

In Tokyo, gains in energy stocks and export-dependent companies were offset by profit-taking on domestic stocks. There, Nippon Oil, Japan Petroleum, and AOC Holdings were all substantially higher; additionally Honda, Hitachi, and Fuji Photo film, all of which export heavily, were all up.

In the New York markets, an exception to higher energy stocks came when Unocal accepted a takeover bid by ChevronTexaco; shares of both companies declined after no counterbid was received. In London, energy stocks were generally higher.