Nasdaq Just Keeps Rising, Up 71% in ’99
U.S. stocks rose Friday on brisk volume, sending the Nasdaq composite index to its 54th record this year as investors continued piling into computer-related shares.
“There is a lot of money around that people want to put to work before year-end,” said Richard Caro, a portfolio manager at Summit Bank in New Jersey.
The Dow industrial average rose 12.54 points, or 0.1%, to close at 11,257.43 after touching 11,383.74--its highest level since the record close of 11,326.04 on Aug. 25.
The tech-oriented Nasdaq rose 38 points, or 1%, to 3,753.06.
Stocks surrendered gains in the last hour of trading as money managers adjusted positions with a rebalancing of the Standard & Poor’s indexes, and as key index and equity options expired in the quarterly “triple-witching” event.
“It’s triple-witch, rebalancing and it’s the end of the day,” said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. in Boston. “This [the late pullback] happens half the time and it is nothing to lose sleep over.”
For the week, the Nasdaq rose 3.7%, the Dow 0.3% and the S&P; 500 0.3%. For the year, the Nasdaq is up 71%--which would be the biggest annual gain in its 28-year history and the best showing by any major index in more than 80 years. The Dow is up 22.6% on the year and the S&P; 15.6%.
The blue-chip rally broadened Friday, with winners topping losers by 17 to 14 on the New York Stock Exchange. A record 1.35 billion shares changed hands on the Big Board, according to preliminary estimates, marking the first time ever that more than 1 billion shares traded for four straight days. Nasdaq had its 10th-busiest day.
The bond market, meanwhile, remained in a foul mood, with yields hovering near two-year highs. The Federal Reserve meets next week, and while policymakers aren’t expected to raise interest rates again, many bond traders are betting the Fed will go back into credit-tightening mode in 2000.
Among Friday’s highlights:
* Adobe Systems gained $3.75 to $67.50 as the maker of design software said quarterly net income rose to 76 cents a share from 39 cents a year earlier.
Also getting an earnings lift was Progress Software, which soared $8.50 to $53.88 after announcing quarterly profit of 60 cents a share, thumping estimates, and a 2-for-1 stock split effective Jan. 21.
* Among tech leaders, momentum stayed with Microsoft, which rose $1.56 to a record $115.25, extending its weeklong advance on optimism for its upcoming Windows 2000 software. The stock is now up 26% since Dec. 8.
Intel rose $1.81 to $82.06, Apple gained $1.69 to $100 and Yahoo rose $9 to $350.
But Electronic Arts got zapped $27.94 to $81.50 on concern about lower-than-expected sales of software for Nintendo’s N64 console game system.
Profit-taking also hit Be, which skidded $10.94 to $26.63. The software stock, which traded below $4 in November, had been on a tear on takeover speculation and Linux fever.
* Nike sprinted $6.75 to $52.44 as the athletic-shoemaker said profit rose to 38 cents a share for the latest period, beating estimates.
* Toyota Motor’s U.S.-traded shares raced $10 to $91.44 after the Japanese car maker posted increases in sales and domestic production in November.
* A rally in the cyclical sector aided the Dow, with Dupont up $3.25 to $68.56 and Alcoa up $1.69 to $77.94.
* Electronic Data Systems fell $4.81 to $59.25 as nine former workers were accused of an alleged $38-million fraud conspiracy.
* In perhaps the year’s last flurry for initial public offerings, OnDisplay (ticker symbol: ONDS) vaulted $49 to $77; C-Bridge Internet Services (CBIS) surged $24.06 to $40.06; TrueTime (TRUE) rose $2.75 to $7.75; and Egreetings Network (EGRT) inched up 56 cents to $10.56. Analysts say few IPOs are on the calendar for next week and they might get pushed to 2000.
Still, boosted by the IPO craze, the Wilshire 5,000 total market index, the broadest measure of U.S. stocks, is on track to outperform the S&P; 500 for the first time in six years. The Wilshire is up 17.5% in 1999.
Market Roundup, C4
