|
CNNfn tech stock report
|
 |
September 30, 1998: 5:32 p.m. ET
Continuing fears over rate cut, global worries drag down techs again
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Technology stocks were punished for the second day in a row Wednesday as investors expressed continued frustration over Tuesday's modest interest-rate cut.
The Nasdaq Composite finished down 40.21 to 1,693.84 on volume of more than 729 million shares. Declines beat advancing issues by about a 3-to-2 margin.
AT&T Corp. (T) fell 1-7/16 to 58-7/16 on reports it was looking to buy IBM Corp.'s (IBM) network unit for up to $4 billion. IBM also shed 2-15/16 to 128-1/2.
Leading the downward charge were networking stocks, which were still reeling from Tuesday's profit warning by Nortel (NT), which shed another 3-5/8 to 32-1/4. Joining the downward trend were Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU), down 5-1/4 to 69-1/4, Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), down 2-13/16 to 61-13/16, PairGain Technologies (PAIR), down 1-15/16 to 8-1/8 and 3Com Corp. (COMS) down 1-1/2 to 30-1/16.
The negativity also dragged down the big-cap techs. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) lost 2-13/16 to 110-1/16, Intel Corp. (INTC) ended down 2-3/4 to 85-3/4, Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) slipped 2-1/16 to 65-3/4 and MCI WorldCom Inc. (WCOM) fell 1-1/16 to 48-7/8.
America Online Inc. (AOL) dropped 5-3/4 to 111-5/8 in heavy trading, leading Internet stocks lower. Other losers included RealNetworks Inc. (RNWK) down 4-11/16 to 34-11/16, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) down 1-1/12 to 111-5/8 and Inktomi Corp. (INKT) shed 4-5/8 to 75-1/4. Also ending in the red were Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), down 2 to 129-1/2 and Broadcast.com Inc. (BCST) fell 4 to 40-3/8.
Sweden's Ericcson (ERICY) fell 7/8 to 18-3/8 despite being upgraded by PaineWebber on Tuesday. That led other cell phone stocks lower. Finland's Nokia Corp. (NOK.A) lost 2-5/8 to 78-1/4, Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) shed 9/16 to 47-15/16 and Motorola Inc. (MOT) lost 1-11/16 to 42-7/8.
Chip designer Aspec Technology Inc. (ASPC) lost 15/16 to 1-7/8 after warning it will delay the release of its third-quarter earnings.
Software provider Mobius Management Systems Inc. (MOBI) lost 3-3/16 to 6 after the company was downgraded to "hold" from "buy" by NationsBanc Montgomery Securities.
One of the day's few winners was Ovid Technologies Inc. (OVID) which gained 4-1/8 to 24-1/8 after the company agreed to be acquired by Wolters Kluwer NV for $24.59 a share, or about $200 million.
For the latest information on technology, tune into CNNfn's "Digital Jam" weeknights at 7:30 p.m. ET or click here to watch the program via Microsoft NetShow.
--by staff writers Cyrus Afzali and Brendan Hasenstab
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
