The Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration revealed that crude oil inventories climbed by 1.9 million barrels for the week ended January 27, rising to 321.0 million barrels from the prior week's level of 319.1 million barrels. This followed a decline of 2.3 million barrels in the previous week. Oil inventories were 11.4% higher than their levels of the same time last year.

Gasoline inventories posted a week-over-week increase of 4.2 million barrels, the government said, adding to the previous week's increase of 3.2 million barrels. Gasoline stocks were 0.1% above their levels of last year, the first time they have shown a year-over-year increase in some time. Inventories of distillate fuel oil ticked down by 200,000 barrels in the most recent week.

The Department of Commerce released its report on construction spending in the month of December on Wednesday, showing that spending rose much more than economists had anticipated. The growth reflected a notable increase in spending on private construction.

The report showed that construction spending rose 1 percent in December after an upwardly revised increase of 0.5 percent in November. Economists had expected spending to increase 0.3 percent compared to the 0.2 percent increase originally reported for November.

With the growth in December, the value of construction spending came in at a record $1.12 trillion for 2005, which is up 8.9 percent from the $1.03 trillion spent in 2004.

As mentioned above, spending on private construction saw notable growth, increasing by 1.1 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $904.3 billion. Residential construction increased by 1 percent while non-residential construction rose by 1.3 percent.

Public construction spending also increased in December, rising by 0.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $256.3 billion. The growth came as a 1.5 percent increase in education construction spending more than offset a 0.6 percent decrease in highway construction spending.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS NEWS

Asian-Pacific benchmarks ended mostly lower on volatile trade, reflecting heavy corporate news release and growing uncertainty over the direction of U.S. interest rates. A 13% drop of Google’s shares overnight also weighed on sentiment. The Nikkei ended its winning streak, falling 1% for the first time after six strong sessions. South Korea’s Kospi extended losses to drop 1.7%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3%, while Singapore Straits Times gained 0.8%.

European stocks gained ground Wednesday, lifted by solid sales growth for Roche Holding and bid speculations involving Lloyds TSB. Inspired by the positive news, stock markets ignored Wall Street weakness and the disappointing report from Google. The German DAX 30 added 0.1%, the French CACV 40 gained 0.4%, and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5%.

OIL, METALS, CURRENCIES

Crude oil prices slightly declined on OPEC’s decision to keep production levels. The slide was limited by concerns over Iran’s standoff with the West. Light sweet crude for March delivery fell 12 cents to $67.80 a barrel. Heating oil lost 1 cent to $1.8406 a gallon, while gasoline inched down to $1.7970. Natural gas gained 17 cents to $9.487 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent lost 2 cents to $65.97.

European gold prices declined on strengthening dollar. In London gold traded at the fixed price of $567.20 bid per troy ounce, down from $569. In Zurich the precious metal traded at $567.60, down from $569.80. In Hong Kong gold rose $7.45 to close at $567.05. Silver opened at $9.76, down from $9.82.

The U.S. dollar grew stronger against other major currencies. The euro was quoted at $1.2110, down from $1.2160. The dollar bought 117.68 yen, up from 117.23. The British pound stood at $1.7757, down from $1.7805.

EARNINGS NEWS

Duke Energy, (DUK: chart), energy company, posted Q4 net income of 63 cents a share, up vs. 36 cents a share in the year ago period, beating analyst estimate for earnings of 36 cents a share. Earnings from continuing operations were 43 cents a share, compared to 30 cents a share.

American Electric Power, (AEP: chart), utility company, reported a Q4 loss of 38 cents a share, down from a profit of 45 cents a share a year-ago. On an ongoing basis, the company generated quarterly earnings of 29 cents a share, down from the previous year''s 42 cents, beating on that basis analyst views for earnings of 25 cents a share. American Electric stated it incurred $261 million in one-time charges during the 2005 quarter. Revenue dropped to $2.9 billion from $3.5 billion.

Devon Energy Corp, (DVN: chart), oil and gas company, reported Q4 net earnings of $2.14 a share, up from $1.35 a share in the same period last year, missing analyst estimate of $2.29 a share. On an adjusted basis, the company announced it would have earned $2.33 a share for Q4. Revenue reached nearly $3.22 billion from $2.47 billion. On a combined basis, daily oil, gas and natural-gas liquids output averaged 619,000 barrels of oil equivalent in 2005, down 10% from company''s 2004 average daily production as a result of hurricane-related disruptions.

Greater Bay Bancorp, (GBBK: chart), financial-services holding company, announced that Q4 net income increased 8.2% to 39 cents a share, up from 33 cents in the year-ago. Revenue from interest on loans in the quarter dropped 0.5% to $67.7 million from $68.1 million. Annualized return on equity for the quarter advanced to 13.5% from 12.69% while return on assets was 1.27% against 1.19%.

Time Warner Inc, (TWX: chart), media company, reported Q4 net income of 29 cents a share, up from 24 cents in the year-ago period on 7% revenue growth. On an adjusted basis, the latest quarter''s profit was 25 cents a share, topping analysts view for earnings of 22 cents a share. Time Warner''s operating income came in at $2.2 billion, up from the previous year''s $1.6 billion.