Ongoing Tech Boom Propels Nasdaq to Yet Another High
U.S. stocks wrapped up a week of gains with a mixed performance as tech shares propelled the Nasdaq composite index to its 13th record in 16 sessions, but the Dow industrials fell.
“If you’re not exposed to technology stocks, you’re compelled to buy them to keep up with your competitors,” said Mark Dawson, a money manager with Seattle-based Rainier Investment Management.
Nasdaq rose 22.14 points, or 0.7%, to 3,369.25. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 31.81 points, or 0.3%, to 11,003.89, dragged down by Caterpillar. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index dipped 2.94 points, or 0.2%, to 1,422.00. Three stocks fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.
For the week, Nasdaq climbed 4.6%, the S&P; 500 1.9% and the Dow 2.2%.
Caterpillar, the world’s biggest construction-equipment maker, slumped $6.75 to $49.19 after warning it will earn only slightly more this quarter than its third-quarter profit of 61 cents a share because of slumping machinery sales. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial was for Caterpillar to earn 97 cents.
JDS Uniphase rocketed $10.75 to $213.81 after Soros Fund Management, the money management company controlled by billionaire George Soros, said its investment funds recently held almost 440,000 shares of the world’s biggest maker of fiber-optic equipment parts.
Crude oil soared 3%, briefly trading at its highest price since the Persian Gulf War in 1991, on expectations that four more months of low production from OPEC will deplete world inventories. Crude for December delivery settled at $26.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Bond yields dipped slightly.
Among the equity highlights:
* Tech gainers included Microsoft, up $1.06 to $86. It rose to $89.50 in after-hours trading on the news that an arbitrator was appointed in the government’s antitrust case. Chip leader Intel gained $1.38 to $79.88, while wireless giant Qualcomm rose $11.25 to $367.06.
IBM jumped $5.94 to $103.94, limiting the Dow’s loss. Sun Microsystems gained $3.81 to $129.56, and Compaq climbed $1.19 to $26.25.
* CacheFlow (ticker symbol: CFLO) soared $102.38 to $126.38 in its first day of trading, the sixth-best debut ever. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company specializes in equipment that speeds delivery of Web pages.
Among other new offerings, SciQuest.com (SQST) rose $14 to $30 and Exactis.com (XACT) gained $10 to $24.
* China.com, a Hong Kong-based Internet company focused on electronic commerce, jumped $24.31 to $117.69 after announcing a 2-for-1 stock split, effective Dec. 6 for shareholders of record Nov. 23.
In foreign trading, Mexico’s main index climbed 1.5% to its third straight record, while Brazil’s main index vaulted 2.9%.
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Market Roundup, C4
