CW75 stock performance.(Illustration)

Chemical Week, August, 2004

The CW75 Index rose 1.6% for the week ending August 4 amid a slew of strong earnings reports, outpacing broader market indexes including the Morgan Stanley global composite and Standard & Poor's 500, which were flat. Basic chemical stocks rose 1.9%, diversifieds, 1.4%, and specialty chemical, 2.2%.

Electronic chemical stocks were among the leaders, rising in line with semiconductor chip makers, reports say. ICI stock also performed strongly as a result of better-than-expected, second-quarter earnings (CW, Aug. 4, p. 13). PolyOne's stock rose on news that second-quarter operating income jumped four-fold, to $46.7 million. Stocks of fertilizer makers Agrium and IMC Global also improved on healthy second-quarter results.

Engelhard topped the laggards...

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