On another front, infrastructure stocks rose Thursday, drawing investors who anticipate U.S. funding of the renovation of bridges, roads and other systems, analysts said.
"This unfortunate incident in Minnesota is raising awareness on some of the civil infrastructure stocks,'' said Steven Fisher, an analyst at UBS securities.
Andy Kaplowitz, an analyst at Lehman Brothers Inc., added, ''Along with the steam-pipe incident earlier this summer in New York, these kinds of incidents raise awareness of the fragility of our infrastructure,''
Fisher said companies including Aecom Technology Corp., Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Fluor Corp. and URS Corp. may benefit. Aecom shares rose $1.10, or 4.4 percent, to $26.40 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Jacobs rose $1.89, or 3.1 percent, to $63.02. Fluor rose $5.97, or 5.2 percent, to $120.79. URS rose $1.89, or 3.9 percent, to $50.12.
Fisher said the U.S. civil infrastructure market is starting to grow, citing initiatives that include $265 billion of U.S. highway funding passed in 2005, $20 billion in California bonds in November and other state bond issues.
An estimated $1.6 trillion is needed over the next five years to bring the country's infrastructure into good condition, according to a report by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
In regard to impact on other forms of commerce, a seven-mile stretch of the Mississippi river was closed to vessels south of Minneapolis after the I-35W bridge, an eight-lane structure near the University of Minnesota and the Metrodome, buckled during the evening rush hour Wednesday, said Chief Petty Officer Robert Lanier with the U.S. Coast Guard in Cleveland.
The closed section isn't heavily used by freight and grain barges, which mostly enter the river farther south in Iowa and Illinois for the trip to major export depots in New Orleans, said Jerry Fruin, professor at the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota.
As many as six barges can move along the Minnesota River at once without the hassle of locks, while the closed section of the Mississippi can handle only two at a time, he said.
The Coast Guard has no estimate for how long the river will be closed, Lanier said.
