Nasdaq Again Sets Record; Dow Declines
Strength in Internet issues lifted Nasdaq to another record high, although last-minute profit-taking sent the Dow blue chips into negative territory in Friday’s abbreviated session.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 27.31 points, or 0.8%, to 3,447.81, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 19.26 points, or 0.2%, to 10,988.91 and the S&P; 500 index dipped 0.46 point to 1,416.62.
“Tech stocks? Up, up and away,” said Brian Finnerty, a trader at C.E. Unterberg Towbin. “There’s a ton of dough chasing these stocks because everyone feels they’ve got to own them.”
With the trading day cut short because of the extended Thanksgiving holiday, volume was extremely light, with advancing and declining issues about evenly split.
Internet shares rose across the board after Thomas Weisel analyst Chris Vroom reiterated his “strong buy” ratings on three e-tailers--Amazon.com, EToys and VitaminShoppe.com.
“We believe we’re not done yet seeing the up trend on [these] stocks as we enter the peak holiday shopping season, and in our view these are must-own names to capitalize on what will be perceived as a critical period of online shopping adoption,” he said.
Amazon.com rose $5.88 to $93.13, EToys added $2.25 to $66.63 and VitaminShoppe.com surged $3.69 to $17.19.
The strength in the tech sector pushed Nasdaq into record territory for the 16th time in 20 trading days.
Red Hat soared $44.56 to $213.50, JDS Uniphase climbed $9.44 to $266 and Qualcomm gained $9.44 to $384.75.
But a sell-off erased an earlier 47-point gain on the Dow.
Sliding sectors included transports and utilities, pressured by weakness in the bond market amid stronger-than-expected economic news.
The yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond jumped to 6.23% from 6.20% Wednesday.
The Dow was propped up for much of the day by AT&T;, as the Wall Street Journal said the company is pondering an initial public offering of its planned tracking stock to raise capital for its wireless business. The stock rose $4.25 to $57.44.
For the week, the Dow eased 0.1% and the S&P; 500 fell 0.4%. Nasdaq climbed 2.3%, however, and if the index holds on to its 57.2% gain for 1999, it would be the biggest annual rise since its inception in 1971.
In Friday’s currency trading, the reeling euro slumped to its lowest level yet against the dollar and the yen despite brighter news on Europe’s economic prospects and efforts by central bankers to talk up the infant currency.
The euro fell to $1.016, down 15% from the currency’s market debut Jan. 4.
Among the highlights:
* Toys R Us rose $1.25 to $18.38 after Chief Executive Michael Goldstein said he is comfortable with fourth-quarter and fiscal 2000 earnings estimates, according to CNBC.
* In the red-hot wireless sector, Emcee Broadcast catapulted $7.06 to $9.69 and Telular leaped $8.81 to $10.88, both apparently on no major news.
* Ariel zoomed $26.25 to $37. The modem card maker for Internet access providers also tripled Wednesday, after saying several government agencies worldwide approved use of its new product.
* Intuit gained $8.50 to $58.88, rising for the second session after reporting a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss.
Market Roundup, C4
