United Airlines estimates 9.5-11.5% improvement in PRASM; Copa up; LAN down

North and South American carriers’ stocks were mixed on Monday (08-Feb-2010), as the wider market dropped. The Dow (-1.0%) fell as investors remained concerned over sovereign debt issues in Europe, possible global rate hikes and the US Government’s proposal to implement regulations restricting banks' proprietary trading, so as to limit systemic risk in the finance industry. Also pushing carriers lower was a 2.7% gain in oil prices, to USD71.19. The AMEX Airline Index ended trading.