Sector Snap: Plastic Packaging companies rise

Shares of plastic packaging makers rose Tuesday after the price of crude oil, a key raw material in making plastics, plunged as Hurricane Gustav appeared to largely spare petroleum installations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery fell $7.73 to $107.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier dropping as low as $105.46. The last time prices hovered in that range was in early April before a historic run-up above $147 per barrel.

Plastics are made from petrochemicals that, in turn, are produced by processing crude oil and natural gas. When crude oil's price declines, so does the price of petrochemicals.

On Friday, the contract settled at $115.46 a barrel as Gustav approached the U.S. Gulf coast, a key region for oil drilling and refining. But traders were relieved that Gustav weakened as it neared the offshore oil rigs and Louisiana refineries, and appeared to have caused less damage than expected in New Orleans and surrounding areas.

In morning trading, Pactiv Corp. rose $1.14, or 4.2 percent, to $28.01. Sealed Air Corp. rose 82 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $25.05 and Ball Corp. rose 65 cents to $46.57.