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Mixed picture for stocks
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April 20, 1998: 11:42 a.m. ET
Markets head in opposite direction amid more earnings, weaker bonds
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Stocks remained mixed in midday trading Monday, with Wall Street weighing first-quarter earnings against bond market weakness, and taking a pause after last week's market records.
Shortly before 11:30 a.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was 19.68 points lower at 9,147.82. Trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange reached 215 million shares, with advances barely leading declines 1,321 to 1,300.
But other markets were higher, with the Nasdaq Composite rising 19.46 to 1,886.06 and the S&P 500 index up 1.64 to 1,124.36.
Bonds fell as market players lightened their positions ahead of heavy supply of new corporate debt hitting the market later this week. The price of the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond fell 13/32 of a point, for a yield of 5.90 percent.
The dollar was mixed, maintaining a positive tone against the Japanese yen and posting small declines against the German mark.
Earnings still steal the show
Earnings news continued to dominate trading in stocks, with long-distance phone giant and Dow component AT&T (T) reporting slightly better-than-expected first-quarter results. Its shares, however, slipped 1-1/2 to 65-5/8.
Shares of another Dow member, IBM (IBM), gained 2-3/8 to 110-1/8 as investors prepared for its first-quarter earnings report, due after the closing bell.
Shares of pharmaceutical companies continued to attract heavy buying after a strong performance last week as investors showed confidence in several new drugs.
The stock of Eli Lilly (LLY) gained 3-7/16 to 71-13/16 as the company reported a 21 percent gain in first-quarter net profit to 46 cents a share -- in line with market expectations. Investors also liked the stock because of data released late last week which showed that the company's osteoporosis drug Evista might also help prevent breast cancer.
Other gainers in the drug sector included Dow component Merck (MRK), up 2-3/8 to 122-3/4, and Pfizer (PFE), rising 7-1/16 to 112-1/4. Investors expect Pfizer's new impotence drug Viagra to enjoy strong initial sales. The first weekly sales report on the drug is expected to be released later Monday.
But shares of Interneuron (IPIC) plunged 7-3/16 to 7-7/8, losing almost 48 percent of their value after the company said it was withdrawing an application for its CerAxon drug after patient trials failed to meet its goals of reducing heart and neurological damage in stroke patients.
Also offsetting gains in the pharmaceuticals, shares of airlines tumbled after Delta Air Lines (DAL) said fiscal third-quarter earnings per share fell to $2.45 from $2.47 a year earlier. The latest results were slightly above Wall Street expectations for $2.40 a share. Delta's stock fell 2-11/16 to 124-3/16, topping the list of net losers on the Big Board.
Shares of AMR (AMR), the parent of American Airlines, lost 1-1/2 to 154-7/16, and UAL (UAL), the parent of United Airlines, fell 1-5/16 to 91. The Dow transports index slid 28.95 to 3,656.33. 
--by staff writer Malina Poshtova Zang
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