AMEX Airline Index up for ninth day in a row, rise led by Continental Airlines and American Airlines
North and South American carriers' stocks were up for the ninth day in a row, with the AMEX Airline Index (+3.8%) gaining again on Tuesday (15-Sep-09), the longest streak for airline stocks since 1995.
The index has now risen 26% since 02-Sep-09, and 125% since its low point on 09-Mar-09. The rise came despite a rebound in oil prices (+3.0%), to USD70.93.
The hot streak is the result of a number of factors, including positive forecasts by Delta (+6.4%) and FedEx (+0.8%), as well as analyst upgrades to United Airlines (+4.3%) and US Airways (+6.5%). According to analysts at Bay Crest Partners LLC, "you'd be hard pressed to find anything more levered to an economic recovery than airlines."
AMEX Airlines Index stock price: 12-Jun-09 to 15-Sep-09
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Yahoo! Finance
Network carriers led the way, with Continental (+7.7%), American Airlines (+6.8%) and US Airways (+6.5%) up strongly.
Alaska Airlines (+3.9%) was also up, closing at USD27.25. SmarTrend announced during the day that the carrier's stock price has increased 45.9% since the analysts called an Uptrend on the stock on 01-Jul-09.
Across the border, Air Canada (-0.6%) and WestJet (-0.2%) were also down slightly, despite a rise in the TSX (+1.5%).
Rising competition in Brazil
Meanwhile, Brazilian carriers, TAM (-2.7%) and GOL (-1.2%) slipped on a Brazilian passenger traffic report showing the two are facing increased pressure from start-up carriers in the market.
North & South America selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 15-Sep-09
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Yahoo! Finance