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Dow to continue upswing?
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January 8, 1999: 7:22 a.m. ET
Continued optimism and positive words point to strong market opening
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The latest jobs figures and bullish words from a leading securities analyst may put Wall Street into a positive mood when it opens Friday.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 7.21 points to close at 9,537.76. Trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange reached 859 million shares, with declines leading advances 1,953 to 1,131. The Nasdaq Composite gained 5.23 to 2,326.09, its fifth straight record high. The S&P 500 index dropped 2.61 to 1,269.73.
Ralph Acampora, chief technical analyst of Prudential Securities, was definitely in a bullish mood. Speaking on CNNfn's Business Day Friday, Acampora called upon investors to get into the market.
"I would be 100 percent fully invested in equities today," he said. "This is market is just bubbling up from underneath. I'm not saying sell your house…but be aggressive."
Acampora was high on tech stocks, but he also said airline, drug and food stocks were doing well.
In keeping with the feeling of optimism, the S&P futures were up 4.20 Friday, typically pointing to a positive market opening.
(Click here for the latest S&P futures quote)
The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond was down 1/32 for a yield of 5.225 percent. Traders will also be watching December's non-farm payrolls, unemployment rate and average hourly earnings, all due Wednesday. Analysts' estimates call for a 4.5 percent increase in the unemployment rate. The prior report listed a 4.4 percent increase.
In company news, The Sports Authority (TSA) said it expects fourth quarter profits to be well below analysts' estimates due to weaker sales of sports apparel and ski wear. The company said it expects fourth quarter sales to be about $450 million, with a comparable store sales decrease of about 4.5 percent over the prior year. According to First Call, analysts had expected the company to post a profit of 32 cents per share for the quarter, down from 35 cents a year ago. The Sports Authority was up 1/16 at 5-1/4.
In other news, Scientific-Atlanta (SFA) said it expects to report higher-than-expected revenues for the second quarter due to strong sales of interactive set-top boxes to cable companies. The company said revenues for the second quarter will be about $308 million, compared to $294.5 million a year ago, and current average Wall Street expectations of about $262 million. Scientific-Atlanta was up 3-11/16 at 27-1/4.
And Empi Inc. (EMPI) said it expects to report fourth quarter earnings of about $3.1 million or 48 cents per diluted share, up from $2.9 million or 35 cents a share for the previous year. Empi was up 3/8 at 24-3/4.
Overseas, most Asian markets held onto to their gains of the New Year, but shares in Tokyo eased as concern over the yen's strength against the dollar hampered blue chips. Overnight, the dollar regained some ground against the yen, trading at 111.77 yen by the close of trading in Asia. Earlier gains in Hong Kong were trimmed. The Hang Seng Index closed up 0.27 percent to 10,722.7, a rise of 29.13 points.
After only one day away, the bulls returned to Europe early Friday, although the enthusiasm from earlier in the week has been toned down. A late recovery in New York outweighed another overnight decline in Tokyo, boosting European investors' frame of mind. 
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