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Wall St. to keep up march?
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March 11, 1999: 7:20 a.m. ET
Will oil, financial issues lead or will tech issues retake center stage?
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Investors will be watching the march toward 10,000 Thursday after a blue-chip rally pushed the Dow Jones industrial average to its second record in four sessions Wednesday.
The S&P 500 index also set its second record in less than a week as oil and financial stocks led the way. Those stocks will be watched closely Thursday, especially oil issues as producing nations talk further about cutting output in a bid to boost energy prices.
Earnings will also be a focus as several big technology companies and retailers are due to report, including database software maker Oracle and the book chain Barnes & Noble.
The Dow jumped 79 points to 9,773, a rise of 0.8 percent that left it less than 230 points away from 10,000, a psychological barrier that some investors say is merely another milestone in the current bull market.
"It's just another number that the market will go through," Patricia Chadwick, director of U.S. stock strategy at Invesco, said on CNNfn's Business Day, adding it may not get there as soon as people think.
The S&P 500 added seven points to 1,287, surpassing the record set Monday, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 13 points to 2,406, about 4 percent below its record of 2,510.09 set Feb. 1.
S&P futures on the Globex exchange system rose two points, indicating a mixed to slightly higher open. Typically one point on the futures index equals eight points on the Dow as trading begins.
(Click here for the latest S&P futures quote)
Overseas, stocks rallied in Europe and were mixed in Asia. The dollar rose to 120.45 Japanese yen and to $1.0902 to the euro.
Oil prices fell in Europe, with Brent crude blend down 9 cents to $12.37 a barrel but still up about $2 a barrel for the month.
In the bond market, the yield on the 30-year Treasury edged up to 5.56 percent from 5.55 percent Wednesday.
Stocks to watch include Oracle (ORCL), which is expected to report profits of 19 cents a share, according to First Call, which tracks analysts' estimates. Some investors are eyeing earnings a few cents a share higher, the so-called whisper number on Wall Street. Oracle fell 13/16 to 37-15/16 Wednesday but is up about 32 percent so far this year.
In the retail sector, Barnes & Noble (BKS) is forecast to earn 95 cents a share, Ann Taylor Stores (ANN) is expected to earn 43 cents a share and catalog retailer Lands End (LE) is forecast at $1.13 a share. Barnes & Noble rose 1-1/8 to 27-1/8, Ann Taylor added 11/16 to 46-3/16, while Lands End jumped 1-3/4 to 30-3/4.
Online brokerage stocks could be in for a rough ride after The Wall Street Journal reported the Securities and Exchange Commission is stepping up oversight of the Internet brokers. Charles Schwab (SCH), the biggest discount and online broker, rose 2-11/16 to 81, E*Trade (EGRP) jumped 4-9/16 to 54-1/8 and Ameritrade (AMTD) added 2-11/16 to 52-1/8.
In addition, Schwab is reportedly settling complaints from about 300 people who lost up to $1.2 million on orders for theglobe.com (TGLO), whose stock rose ¼ to 47-7/16.
Elsewhere, CMGI is due to report and forecasts are for 22 cents a share. Its CEO, David Wetherell, resigned from the Lycos (LCOS) board this week to step up his opposition to the planned merger between Lycos and USA Networks (USAI). CMGI fell 2-3/4 to 191-11/16.
On the economic front, February retail sales are forecast up 0.9 percent, up from January's 0.2 percent rise. Weekly jobless claims are forecast up about 4,000.
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