Stocks Close Mixed
Despite a mixed performance Friday, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Dow Jones industrial average notched a fourth straight week of gains, their longest winning streak since early September.
“The economy is clearly improving, and corporate profits are going to be up,” said Edmund Cowart, who helps manage $8 billion at Eagle Asset Management. “As they go higher, they ought to drag stock prices up.”
The Dow gained 30.14 points, or 0.3%, to 10,278.22, finishing at a 19-month high for a fourth consecutive day. The S&P; 500 lost a fraction of a point to 1,088.66 for its first decline in four sessions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index shed 5.16 points, or 0.3%, to 1,951.02.
Winners and losers were about even on the New York Stock Exchange, while declining stocks held a 9-8 edge on Nasdaq. Trading was active. For the week, the Dow climbed 2.4%, the S&P; 500 rose 1.4%, and Nasdaq eked out a 0.1% gain.
Trading may have been more active than usual because of the quarterly expiration of futures and options, known as quadruple witching. The two busiest days for NYSE trading this year, June 6 and March 21, have occurred on such expiration days.
Stocks traded mostly higher for much of the morning before losing some momentum in the afternoon. Traders said rumors of a terrorist threat in New York pressured the market, even though a police spokesman said there was no “credible intelligence pointing to a specific or imminent terrorist threat.”
Many stock traders brushed off the report.
“The reaction is very limited and, in the view of most traders, is a total nonevent,” said Keith Keenan, vice president of institutional trading at Wall Street Access. “Most traders have become numb to it and look to buy any kind of sell-off related to that.”
Stocks have pushed higher in recent days on growing investor confidence. Analysts worry, however, that much of the market advance might be coming more on year-end seasonal factors as investors put year-end dividends and bonuses to work.
Peter Dunay, chief market strategist at Wall Street Access said some investors might be positioning themselves before the holiday next week, when trading is expected to be light.
“Most investors are thrilled to close right here and say, ‘Yeah, the market is going to go up this year after three years of declines,’ ” he said.
The dollar edged up against the euro and yen after hitting new lows against the euro in 13 of the previous 15 trading sessions.
Oil prices fell as traders took profits after U.S. crude prices this week hit their highest levels since the start of the Iraq war in March. Oil fell 69 cents to $33.02 in New York trading.
In other highlights:
* Dow stock Alcoa climbed 92 cents to $37.30 after Morgan Stanley raised the stock rating of the aluminum producer to “overweight” from “equal weight.”
* Red Hat jumped $3.21 to $17.49 after the provider of Linux-based operating systems reported third-quarter earnings that met expectations.
* Losers included Dow components McDonald’s, off 51 cents to $24.30, and Procter & Gamble, down $1.79 to $97.52.
* Paychex dropped $2.46 to $36.52 after Wachovia Securities lowered the stock rating of the provider of payroll services to small businesses to “market perform” from “outperform.”
Market Roundup, C4-5
