Headlines Don’t Faze Stocks; Nasdaq at High
Stocks rose Friday and the Nasdaq composite hit a new high, in spite of a dramatic impeachment debate on Capitol Hill and a third day of U.S. bombing of Iraq.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 27.81 points to 8,903.63, all but ignoring the impeachment debate in the House of Representatives. The blue-chip index is up 113 points since the U.S. launched its first strikes against Iraq on Wednesday evening.
Nasdaq’s main index surged 42.26 points, or 2.1%, to a record 2,086.14, surpassing its previous high of 2,050.42 set Dec. 9.
Bonds were little changed, with the yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond dipping to 5%, from 5.01% on Thursday.
On Wall Street, the quarterly “triple-witching” expiration of stock and stock-index options and stock-index futures added to the volume of shares traded, but didn’t produce much volatility.
Volume on the Big Board rose to 839 million shares.
Analysts said investors simply can’t see significant enough economic harm stemming from the impeachment process or from the strikes at Iraq.
Indeed, oil prices continued to fall back, losing 8 cents to $10.95 a barrel in New York.
In the stock market overall, winners topped losers by 16 to 15 on the New York Stock Exchange and by 21 to 18 on Nasdaq.
Even smaller stocks got a lift: The Russell 2,000 index rose 0.9%.
For the week, the Dow gained 0.9% and the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.8%.
Among Friday’s highlights:
* Buying was concentrated in major tech stocks, as two analysts raised earnings estimates for chip giant Intel, which surged $3.13 to $120. The analysts cited strong computer demand.
Other winners included Microsoft, up $3.44 to a record $137.81; Cisco Systems, up $5.56 to a record $90.44; IBM, up $5.50 to $171.56; and Dell Computer, up $2.06 to $67.88.
* Internet stocks also continued to soar, with Amazon.com up $9.94 to $286.69, EBay gaining $13.94 to $252.25, Yahoo rising $6.81 at $212.31 and America Online climbing $5.13 to $104.25.
* Airline stocks were winners, with Delta up $1.75 to $51.50 and UAL up 75 cents to $60.25.
* General Electric helped pace the Dow’s rise, climbing $2.56 to close at $96.88. GE said it would raise its dividend 17% and reduce future stock buybacks to stash money for potential acquisitions.
* Bank stocks weakened after Thursday’s surge. BankAmerica fell $1 to $59.25 and Chase Manhattan eased 38 cents to $69.50.
In foreign trading, Asian and Latin American markets ended mostly higher, while European markets were mixed.
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Market Roundup, C4
