NEW YORK, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's on Thursday said Priceline.com Inc, the online travel company, will replace Schering Plough Corp in its flagship S&P 500 stock index after the close of trading on a date to be announced.
S&P also said Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc will replace Schering in the S&P 100 index of the largest blue-chip companies. Schering is being bought by Merck & Co .
Shares of companies joining the S&P 500 often rise because many portfolio managers try to track the index, and must buy shares of companies that enter it.
Priceline is based in Norwalk, Connecticut. The company's shares rose $7.38, or 4.5 percent, to $170.00 after-hours within minutes of the S&P announcement, after falling $1.85 to $162.62 in regular trading on the Nasdaq.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel) Keywords: SP500/CHANGES (jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com +1 646 223 6317; Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
S&P also said Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc will replace Schering in the S&P 100 index of the largest blue-chip companies. Schering is being bought by Merck & Co .
Shares of companies joining the S&P 500 often rise because many portfolio managers try to track the index, and must buy shares of companies that enter it.
Priceline is based in Norwalk, Connecticut. The company's shares rose $7.38, or 4.5 percent, to $170.00 after-hours within minutes of the S&P announcement, after falling $1.85 to $162.62 in regular trading on the Nasdaq.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel) Keywords: SP500/CHANGES (jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com +1 646 223 6317; Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
