Dow Gains 82; Major Tech Stocks Resurge
Wall Street ended mixed Monday, with leading indexes closing higher even though more stocks fell than rose.
Tech stocks, including many Internet issues, turned hot again.
The Dow Jones industrials added 82.65 points, or 0.9%, to 9,203.32, boosted in a late rally.
The Nasdaq composite gained 30.43 points, or 1.3%, to 2,369.31, fueled in part by Microsoft’s surge after the company announced a 2-for-1 stock split.
Still, losers outnumbered winners by 1,553 to 1,461 on the New York Stock Exchange and by 2,041 to 1,934 on Nasdaq. Trading volume was relatively subdued.
Stocks were relatively stable for much of the day as investors picked apart the nuances of earnings reports and forecasts.
Many investors were wary as fourth-quarter earnings season began, after U.S. corporate profits declined in the third quarter, their first drop since 1991.
But “the earnings I’ve seen so far have been positive,” said Guy Truicko, a money manager at Unity Management, which oversees $1 billion.
Others were more cautious about earnings, given the renewed turmoil in global markets.
“We know technology companies are going to do well in the first and second quarter,” said Charles Hill, earnings analyst at First Call Corp. “But where you have multinationals--food, beverage, personal care--being affected by overseas events, the picture is much less clear. Do you buy diapers in a developing country if the economy gets tough? Do you drink Coke instead of water?”
Brazil’s stock market was closed for a holiday, which took pressure off other Latin American markets. Argentina’s market slipped marginally, while Mexico’s market added 0.3%.
In the U.S. Treasury bond market yields were little changed.
Among Monday’s highlights:
* Microsoft climbed $5.63 to $161.88 as the most active stock in U.S. trading after the biggest software maker said it will split its stock 2 for 1. It also agreed to invest $500 million in NTL Inc., Britain’s No. 3 cable company, to speed delivery of high-speed voice, video and Internet services in Britain and Ireland. NTL soared $12.06 to $79.75.
* Other major tech shares rising included IBM, up $2.25 to $182; Gateway, up $6.38 to $68.88; Sun Microsystems, up $3.06 to $101.06; and Intel, up $1.75 to $130.63.
* Many Internet stocks also continued to rebound, after last week’s losses. EBay surged $20.75 to $217.50, Yahoo jumped $26 to $312 and America Online rose $5.56 to $146. But Amazon.com sank $10.63 to $112.38.
* Financial stocks were mostly higher, with Citigroup up $1.63 to $53.25 on its earnings report. Other winners included Merrill Lynch, up $1.50 to $72.94, and Ameritrade, up $5.63 to $55.63 after announcing a 2-for-1 stock split.
* Among blue chips moving on earnings reports, American Express gained $3 to $101.50 after it said its fourth-quarter earnings rose 12%. Also, 3M jumped $3.81 to $75.13 as its operating earnings beat analysts’ estimates, although they were lower than the fourth quarter of 1997.
* On the down side, major phone stocks plunged after the regional Bells lost a battle with long-distance companies, as the U.S. Supreme Court made it easier for competitors to enter the $100-billion-a-year local telephone business.
Bell Atlantic tumbled $4.25 to $54.44, BellSouth slumped $5.06 to $43, SBC Communications declined $2.31 to $54.31 and US West slipped $4.06 to $57.38.
But MCI WorldCom gained $2.81 to $77.69 and AT&T; rose $1.38 to $89.63.
* Among the day’s biggest losers, Robert Half plummeted $9 to $38 after quarterly sales at the employment recruiter came up short of investors’ expectations.
And golf equipment maker Coastcast tumbled $2 to $7.50 after warning that weak sales will depress 1999 earnings. Another golf stock, Callaway Golf, slid 94 cents to $11.88.
Market Roundup, C13
