Dow Rebounds 0.9%; Nasdaq Recovers From Midday Drop
Blue-chip stocks led the market higher Monday as some investors went bargain hunting among beaten-down industrial names.
Nasdaq, meanwhile, recovered from an intraday slide to close with a modest gain.
In the bond market long-term yields eased despite the latest surge in oil prices.
On Wall Street the Dow Jones industrial average rose 94.63 points, or 0.9%, to 10,519.84.
The Dow last week tumbled 4.9% amid interest-rate worries and selling by some investors to buy technology stocks.
Even with Monday’s recovery, the blue-chip index remains down more than 10% from its Jan. 14 record closing high. And its 8.5% loss so far in 2000 is its biggest decline by this point in the year since 1920.
Nasdaq, meanwhile, suffered two sell-offs in Monday’s trading, one in the morning and one at midday. At its low point it was off about 0.9% from Friday. But fresh buying of key tech stocks lifted the index to close up 23.10 points, or 0.5%, at 4,418.55.
In the broad market losers slightly outnumbered winners on the Big Board, while winners had an edge on Nasdaq.
Many traders are expecting the volatile swings of recent weeks to continue, as investors decide how much risk rising interest rates pose to stocks and the economy.
On Monday the bond market was relatively calm. The 30-year Treasury bond yield slid to 6.22% from 6.26% on Friday, even though inflation worries were stoked by crude oil’s latest surge.
Two important January inflation reports are due this week: wholesale prices on Thursday and consumer prices on Friday.
Among Monday’s highlights:
* Some industrial stocks that have been hammered recently revived. Alcoa surged $4.56 to $72.25, Caterpillar jumped $2.63 to $38.63 and Deere gained $2.81 to $39.
* Some energy stocks were stronger as oil prices rose. Exxon Mobil climbed $2.56 to $76.44 as oil reached $30 a barrel for the first time since 1991. Royal Dutch Petroleum gained $1.19 to $55.06 and Apache rose $2 to $37.75.
But Occidental Petroleum skidded $1.25 to $17.25 following reports that the company plans to pay $3.5 billion for oil and gas producer Altura Energy.
* Strong tech names included Apple, up $7.06 to $115.81; Intel, up $4 to $109.88; and Oracle, up $2.50 to $62.19. But Qualcomm fell $4.88 to $127.13, bringing its year-to-date loss to 28%--after a 28-fold climb last year. Sun Microsystems dropped $3.19 to $91.25.
* Cruise-ship operators faced a stormy day as investors sold Carnival and Royal Caribbean on fears that bookings were softening during the busiest season. Carnival, the biggest cruise line, tumbled $4.88 to $35.50, while Royal Caribbean, No. 2, sagged $5.25 to $36.50.
* Fuel-cell developer Plug Power, whose stock has risen nearly eightfold since going public in October, rocketed $21.38 to $133.50 after the company said it ran a test fuel cell for 10,000 hours. Plug Power is developing the cells, which convert hydrogen into electricity, for use as electrical generators in homes.
* Cytogen rallied $1.38 to $13.44 amid expectations that the biotech firm will make an announcement this week on efforts to speed drug discovery by analyzing human proteins. Cytogen has jumped 163% in four trading sessions.
* In another sign of biotech fever, Diversa (DVSA), which collects and stores genetic samples from tiny organisms for use in agriculture, medicine and industry, tripled after the company’s $174-million initial public offering. The shares zoomed $51 to $75. It was the third sizzling biotech launch this year, following Sequenom and Antigenics. They are up a respective 300% and 154% from their offering prices.
* Liz Claiborne rose 31 cents to $31.56 and Dun & Bradstreet gained $1.06 to $26.25 as billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway reported owning stakes of 8.3% and 7.5%, respectively, at the end of 1999. Small investors sometimes seek to mimic Buffett, but his filings are always at least several weeks old, so they may not represent his current holdings. And some analysts wonder whether he has lost his magic: Berkshire shares are off 40% in the last year.
* Among Southland issues, CAM Data jumped $3.75 to $19.50, Maxim Pharmaceuticals surged $11.13 to $59.75 and Newport vaulted $23.75 to $144. But Aurora Biosciences lost $7.63 to $56.13 and Apria Healthcare fell $1.75 to $15.94.
Market Roundup, C16
