Blue Chips Stumble as Nasdaq Soars to Another Record
Blue-chip stocks fell for the fourth straight session Friday as investors kept moving money from industrial companies into tech issues, pushing the Nasdaq composite to a new closing high.
The Dow Jones industrial average skidded 99.59 points, or 0.9%, to 11,251.71. The blue-chip index tumbled every day in the holiday-shortened week, or 3.7% in all.
Nasdaq rose 45.89 points Friday to close at 4,235.40, topping the mark it set Thursday. It jumped 4.2% for the week.
In another repeat performance, the Nasdaq Stock Market notched its busiest day ever, besting Thursday’s record, as 1.9 billion shares changed hands.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 dipped 4.21 points to 1,441.36, but the Russell 2,000 index of smaller companies rose 6.66 points to 533.94, its fifth straight record.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 4-3 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was the second highest ever.
Bonds rallied, knocking the benchmark 30-year Treasury yield to 6.70%, from 6.73% the day before.
Among stocks on the move:
* Major tech gainers boosting Nasdaq included networking king Cisco Systems, up $2.88 to $115.25, and Healtheon/WebMD, an online information provider rumored to be a takeover candidate, up $8.94 to $59.56.
* MRV Communications exploded $18.63 to a record $87 as the Chatsworth-based fiber-optics equipment supplier announced a joint venture with Korea Microwave Technologies to make products for Pacific Rim markets. The stock, which dipped below $20 in November, has been on a roll in recent weeks as value-oriented investors have snapped up shares.
* Rising crude oil prices lifted companies such as Exxon Mobil, up $1.31 to $85; Chevron, up $1.06 to $88.56; Royal Dutch Petroleum, up $1.38 to $59.75; and Schlumberger, up $1.44 to $66.
But airlines, which could face sharply higher expenses because of rising fuel prices, saw their stocks tumble. AMR fell $2.19 to $58.44, and Delta Air Lines slid $2 to $46.88.
* PMC-Sierra vaulted $16.75 to $191.25 as the chip maker beat profit forecasts and set a 2-for-1 split effective Feb. 11 for holders of record Jan. 31.
Other companies beating quarterly profit expectations included software maker Sybase, up $4.25 to $23.13, and cell phone and circuit board maker Flextronics International, up $8.13 to $54.88.
* Procter & Gamble plunged $9.88 to $102.69 on continuing angst over its rumored potential bid for drug maker Warner-Lambert, a move some fear would cut into earnings and dilute the consumer giant’s focus. Warner-Lambert eased 88 cents to $92.
* Sun Microsystems slipped $2.13 to $84.44 despite a better-than-expected profit report late Thursday.
* Veritas Software surged $15.81 to $171.56. Rival Legato Systems plummeted 45% Thursday, after saying fourth-quarter profit fell, in part because of growing competition from Veritas.
Market Roundup, C4
