Tech Stocks Push Nasdaq Higher in Slow Trading Day
Leading technology stocks propelled the Nasdaq composite index to within a point of a new closing record Monday, capping a quiet session that left most indicators little changed.
The Nasdaq gained 16.53 points to close at 2,886.15. Its all-time high of 2,887.06 was set Sept. 10.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 20.27 points to 10,823.90, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.11 point to 1,335.53.
Despite the gains, losers topped winners by nearly 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange and by 21 to 16 on Nasdaq, in very slow trading.
The Russell 2,000 index of smaller companies fell 1.25 points to 433.20.
An array of technology companies pulled the Nasdaq higher. Sun Microsystems surged $5.88 to a new high of $94.56 after the company declared a 2-for-1 stock split Friday. Aerial Communications, a maker of digital cellular phones, soared $6.63 to $26.63 after VoiceStream Wireless agreed to acquire it for $3 billion in stock and cash. VoiceStream rose $5.88 to $61.94.
Apple Computer rose $2.13 to a new high of $79.06, before tumbling in evening trading on its bombshell earnings warning, and Microsoft picked up $1.13 to $97.56.
The renewed strength in tech shares provided a rare spark in one of the quietest sessions of the year. Many Wall Street professionals were off to commemorate the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur.
The dollar’s fluctuations against the Japanese yen kept the market off balance in the early going. Stocks initially rose as the dollar continued to climb back from last week’s 3 1/2-year low against the yen.
But after rising as high as 107.41 Japanese yen in European trading, the dollar’s advance slowed. In New York, the dollar closed at 106.38 yen, down from 106.86 on Friday.
The dollar had dipped to 103.20 yen Wednesday, its lowest level since February 1996, hampering U.S. stocks.
A weaker dollar can make imports more expensive, and it can also make foreign investments more appealing, luring investors away from U.S. securities.
Analysts said investors also appeared unwilling to take major new positions in advance of the Federal Reserve’s Oct. 5 meeting on interest rates.
Philip S. Dow, director of equity strategy at Dain Rauscher in Minneapolis, said earnings reports--or advance notices of earnings surprises--will most likely be the catalyst for the market’s next big move.
“Until then, it’s hard to come up with any convincing arguments that the market should go way up or way down,” he said.
Bond prices fell, with the benchmark 30-year U.S. Treasury yield rising to 6.07%, from 6.04% on Friday.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 1.3%. Germany’s DAX index rose 0.9%, Britain’s FTSE-100 gained 0.3%, and France’s CAC-40 climbed 0.8%.
Market Roundup, C12
