Rally Continues; Nasdaq Is Back in Black for Year
Stocks rallied for a second straight session Tuesday as investors continued to downplay worries about a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq.
After the three-day holiday weekend, the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index clawed back into positive territory year to date for the first time this month, as investors carried over the upbeat sentiment from Friday, when the three major U.S. indexes ended higher for the first week in five.
“People are starting to live a little bit better with the prospect of war and the geopolitical situation,” trader Michael Palazzi of S.G. Cowen told Reuters. “Investors were avoiding a lot of stocks because of what’s going on in the world, but now they’re starting to look at them in terms of their value.”
The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average climbed 132.35 points, or 1.7%, to 8,041.15. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 16.28 points, or 2%, to 851.17.
Nasdaq jumped 36.37 points, or 2.8%, to 1,346.54, leaving it up 0.8% for the year, contrasted with losses of 3.6% and 3.2%, respectively, for the Dow and the S&P.;
Trading volume was modest, however, as investors straggled back to work amid a winter storm that left much of the Northeastern U.S. under several feet of snow.
Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners by 8 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange and 2 to 1 on Nasdaq.
Gold, which is often viewed as a hedge against war and other potential crises, softened to its lowest price in nearly two months, falling $7.70 to $344.20 an ounce in New York trading.
Oil traders continued to drive up the price of crude, however, noting that opposition from France and a growing global protest movement may not be able to prevent a U.S. attack.
Crude closed up 16 cents a barrel at $36.96 after trading above $37 on Tuesday.
In the Treasury market, the yield on the benchmark 10-year T-note eased to 3.95% from 3.96% on Friday.
On Wall Street, the day’s big gainers included data storage company EMC, which surged 59 cents to $8.50 after a Lehman Bros. analyst said external storage revenue for Dell Computer, a key EMC partner, jumped 87% for the quarter ended Jan. 31.
Dell climbed 72 cents to $26.49.
Microsoft gave all three indexes a boost, adding 81 cents to $24.96 after a 2-for-1 stock split took effect.
In other highlights:
* Widely held winners also included Cisco Systems, up 63 cents to $14.31; Alcoa, up 90 cents to $20.95; and Citigroup, up 70 cents to $33.24.
* San Diego-based La Jolla Pharmaceutical plummeted $5.47, or 72%, to $2.08 after saying a late-stage clinical trial of its Riquent drug did not meet its objective to treat patients with impaired renal function.
* Earnings woes continued to take a toll on some shares, including financial information provider Reuters Group, which slid $1.50 to $13.30 after reporting a loss and announcing 3,000 job cuts.
* Darden Restaurants, which runs the Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains, fell $3.46 to $17.16 after issuing a profit warning.
Market Roundup, C6-7
