U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

U.S. stocks slipped on the last trading day of the year with the Dow industrial average likely to end the year lower as investors sold off some of the year''s best performers, including Apple Computer Inc. Apple''s shares fell 1.4% on the Nasdaq, while Dow component Hewlett-Packard Co. slipped nearly 1% on the Nymex. For the year, Apple''s shares are up 129% on the Nasdaq, while Hewlett-Packard is up 36% on the Nymex.

Ahead of a 3-day New Year''s weekend, there are no major economic reports due out on Friday.

Among the companies in focus today, Citigroup Inc. slipped 24 cents on news that the company is leading a consortium offering $3 billion for a stake in Chinese bank Guangdong. Citigroup was also approved to trade the yuan as an interbank foreign exchange market maker.

Google Inc. fell 1% being a defendant in a lawsuit brought by Rates Technology Inc. which claims that Google inappropriately used Voice-over-IP technology in Google Talk. The American-based company is seeking $5 billion in damages.

Intel Corp. slipped a penny on news that it plans to unveil a new branding strategy.

The airline sector dropped about 1.4%, following a steady morning decline. The computer hardware sector was also weak, adding to Thursday''s losses and moving to its lowest level since late November.

The oil service sector hovered slightly above the flat line, while the retail sector settled slightly below it.

Host Marriott (HMT: chart) set a new 52-week high, extending an advanvce which started in mid-November. McDermott International (MDR: chart) hit a new peak as well.

Dow component Coca-Cola (KO: chart) extended its December decline, setting a new 52-week low. NiSource (NI: chart) also added to recent weakness to establish a fresh nadir.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 53.08 points, or 0.49%. The Standard & Poor''s 500 Index was down 6.11 points, or 0.49%. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was down 13.66 points, or 0.62%.


MOVERS AND SHAKERS

NetGuru (NGRU: chart), engineering services company, approved a per-share cash distribution of 85 cents following the company''s November sale of certain assets. The distribution will be made Jan. 27 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 17.The sock surged 43.8%.

Omni Energy Services Corp. (OMNI: chart) agreed to acquire Preheat Inc. for $16 million in cash, 900,000 shares of stock and $4 million of buyer promissory notes. The company’s shares rose 17.2%.

Learning Tree International (LTRE: chart), information technology educational services provider, forecast Q4 revenue of $36.5 million, down 2% compared with the year-ago period. It also expects a quarterly loss from operations of $400,000 to $600,000. The company said for fiscal 2005 ended Sept. 30, it expects to post revenue of $151.6 million, down from $152.1 million last year, and a loss from operations of $1 million to $1.2 million. The stock dropped 7.7%.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS NEWS

Asian-Pacific benchmarks finished Friday session mixed to lower. The Nikkei led the decliners, closing the half-day trade down 1.4% to 16,111.43 as investors locked in gains ahead of the extended New Year’s holiday. For the year the Japanese benchmark climbed 40.24%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 1.12% with a total gain for 2005 of 4.5%. Taiwan’s Weighted index fell 0.7%, while India’s BSE index rose 0.7%.

European stocks finished lower Friday, reflecting profit-taking on the last working day of the year and recent weakness on Wall Street. The German DAX 30 lost 0.9%, the French CAC 40 slipped 1.2%, and London’s FTSE 100 declined 0.4%. Each of the major averages finished the year with a gain of at least 17%.

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