iShares Dow Jones Transportation Average (IYT) jumped 2.5% today as trucking and railroad stocks advanced on positive earnings news. This was helped by oil prices falling more than $1 a barrel.
Profits surged at two of the nation’s largest railroads in the fourth quarter, as a growing economy increased demand to move everything from coal to consumer goods.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the nation’s second largest railroad company, said Tuesday its fourth-quarter earnings rose 24 percent. CSX Corp., the largest rail operator in the eastern United States, said profits more than tripled from a year ago, a jump magnified by a year-ago loss from a business the company has since sold.
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