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Nasdaq alight as '98 ends
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December 31, 1998: 5:22 p.m. ET
Year ends with Dow down, Nasdaq up; 4-year run of double-digit percent gains
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Another blockbuster year on Wall Street came to a close Thursday as investors poured into high-tech issues instead of blue-chip stocks, lifting the Nasdaq Composite to a new record high.
Along with the Nasdaq closing its fourth straight year of double-digit percentage gains, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 93.21 points to close at 9,181.43 Thursday.
The Dow rose 16.1 percent in all of 1998.
Despite the drop Thursday, breadth was positive on the New York Stock Exchange. Advances beat declines 2,027 to 957, as 427 million shares traded hands.
Capping one of its best years ever, the Nasdaq rose 25.75 to 2,192.70, bringing its gain for the year to 39.6 percent.
The S&P 500 index fell 2.54 to 1,229.39, closing the year with a gain of 26.7 percent.
Charles White, president and portfolio manager at Avatar Associates, said the four-year run on stocks should peter out next year. (553K WAV) or (553K AIFF)
In Thursday trading, transport and energy-related stocks were mostly higher, drug stocks were mixed, while money-center banks and Internet stocks were generally lower.
The birth of fixed exchange rates in Europe, under the new euro currency, and a bounce in the Japanese yen walloped the dollar.
Bonds made a late-day dash up from lows, ending a holiday-shortened trading day slightly lower after a welter of economic news and the sweltering dollar session.
The 30-year Treasury issue dropped 4/32 in price for a yield of 5.09 percent.
Oil stocks rally, High-techs charge
Some of the nation's top-tier oil companies rose to the fore as two big players appeared set to put their finishing touch on merger plans.
Amoco (AN) rose 5 to 59-3/4 and British Petroleum (BP) added 7-3/4 to 90-15/16 after getting regulatory approval for their $53 billion merger Wednesday.
Press reports said the still-pending merger plans for rivals Exxon and Mobil would face tough regulatory scrutiny. Dow member Exxon (XON) fell 1-1/2 to 73-1/8 and Mobil (MOB) lost 7/8 to 87-1/8.
Elsewhere on the merger front, Dow stock AT&T (T) slipped 1-1/16 to 75-3/4 after the Justice Department gave a conditional blessing to the telecom giant's plan to buy cable titan Tele-Communications Inc. (TCOMA).
TCI shares closed up 5/16 to 55-5/16.
Powered by one big order, America Online (AOL) blasted up 7-1/16 to 154-1/2, ahead of the online service leader's entry to the S&P 500 index after the bell Thursday.
The top Nasdaq mover was Data Broadcasting (DBCC), adding 3-9/16, or 25 percent, to 17-7/8, following a favorable press report about the prospects for the initial public offering for its Marketwatch.com joint venture, co-owned with the television network CBS (CBS).
Marketwatch.com has already sought permission from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an offering of 2.8 million shares between $10 and $12 per share.
Among biotech stocks, Monsanto (MTC) rallied 1-3/16 to 47-1/2, but was off from a high of 50 after the life-sciences company said it received a letter of approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Celebrex, the first of a new type of treatment for arthritis.
An earnings warning tarnished American Coin Merchandising (AMCN), off 2-11/16 to 5-7/8, or about 31 percent, after the arcade-game maker said it expects earnings in its fourth quarter to be far lower than in the third quarter and the fourth quarter of the year before.
Two garbage haulers were smelling good to investors Thursday after the firms announced an accord with the U.S. Justice Department and three states that will clear the way for the companies' $1.2 billion merger.
On the climb following the regulatory agreement were Eastern Environmental Services (EESI), up 1-1/2 to 29-5/8, and Waste Management (WMI), tacking on 1-11/16 to 46-5/8.
(Click here for a look at today's CNNfn market movers)
(Click here for a look at today's CNNfn tech stock report)
-- by staff writer Jamey Keaten
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