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Yen revival may help Dow
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June 17, 1998: 8:24 a.m. ET
U.S. stocks look to move up as plunging Japanese currency takes breather
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A collective sigh let out across Asia as Japan's yen appeared to stop reeling could give Wall Street the cues it wants to find breathing room Wednesday, as U.S. issues may head higher at the open.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average revived a bit from a bruising 207-point loss on Monday, regaining 37.36 to 8665.29 Tuesday.
The real winner Tuesday was the recently battered Nasdaq Composite, which shot up 37.37 -- nearly 2.2 percent -- to 1753.12 amid strength in technology stocks.
Signs the Japanese yen may have bottomed out against the U.S. dollar -- at least for now -- are poised to help the Dow early Wednesday, based on S&P futures trading on the Globex trading system.
(Click here for the latest S&P futures quote)
The U.S. bond market, which has been moving up almost in lockstep with the yen's fall, was down 1-1/32 in price early Wednesday for a yield of 5.71 percent.
Bond watchers will be eyeing Wednesday afternoon's release of the "Beige Book" -- the Federal Reserve's roundup of regional economic indicators.
Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin are scheduled to talk before the Senate Banking Committee on the financial services industry.
The yen was up 4.60 to 138.65 to the dollar in London trading Wednesday afternoon.
Asian markets were up mostly thanks to the yen bounce -- with the key exception of Japan, where key banking issues slumped. The Hong Kong Hang Seng index shot up 6.35 percent.
And Europe appeared to take its cues from that upbeat signal, but fears of an overheating British economy kept London gains in check.
Sparks are flying in the electronics industry, whose companies could be among the major headliners on Wall Street Wednesday.
Electronic parts distributor Arrow Electronics Inc. warned Asia's market turbulence will bite into second quarter profits.
Shares of Arrow (ARW) ended up 1/4 at 23-5/16 Tuesday.
Fellow electronics sector player Raychem Corp. also warned of a 20 to 25 percent dip in profits due to Asian woes. Its shares (RYC) were off 2 at 33-3/4 Tuesday.
Also on the high-tech front, blue chip IBM Corp. reportedly has lined up Goldman Sachs to help it find a buyer for its printer business, which could fetch about $2 billion
Shares of Dow stock IBM (IBM) were off 2-1/4 at 110 Tuesday.
Silicon Graphics Inc. Tuesday unveiled a new supercomputer the workstation maker said its twice as fast as current models. Shares of Silicon Graphics (SGI) were unchanged at 11-1/4 Tuesday.
Seagram Co. Ltd. is reportedly shopping around Tropicana among private would-be buyers instead of launching a public offering. That could mean the drink and entertainment giant gets less than the $3.5 billion it wanted for the juice unit.
Shares of Seagram (VO) closed Tuesday at 40-7/8, up 3/8, in New York Stock Exchange trading.
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