|
Wall St. gets a boost
|
 |
August 27, 1999: 10:07 a.m. ET
Stocks move higher as buyers get back to work after day of profit-taking
By Staff Writer Malina Poshtova Zang
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. stock markets moved higher early Friday, as investors returned to the market after a day of profit-taking, encouraged by news of strong earnings and a few deals.
Shortly before 10 a.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average was 23.11 points higher at 11,221.56. Trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange was very light at 62 million shares, but breadth was positive, with gainers ahead of losers by 1,107 to 894.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 7.04 to 2,781.66, and the S&P 500 index gained 2.91 to 1,364.92.
The bond market retreated as a burst of profit-taking entered its second day. Investors also showed some signs of caution ahead of a morning speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Market watchers hope to hear more on the direction of interest rates from Greenspan, who is scheduled to speak before the Kansas City Federal Reserve.
Earlier this week, the Fed raised short-term interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, a move that was widely anticipated and that is now expected to be the last of its kind for the year.
The bellwether 30-year Treasury bond fell 10/32 of a point in price, its yield rising to 5.92 percent from Thursday's 5.89 percent.
The dollar was little changed against both the yen and the euro.
Techs show resilience
Much of the early strength on Wall Street came from the technology sector, where unexpectedly strong results from personal finance software maker Intuit (INTU) helped move its stock higher and gave high-tech bulls reason to buy more of the sector's prominent members.
Shares of Intuit, whose Quicken division is a partner of CNNfn.com, rallied 6-1/8 to 89 after the company late Thursday reported a smaller-than-expected loss for the fiscal fourth quarter.
Other technology gainers included Dow member IBM (IBM), rising 3/4 to 123-11/16, and fellow blue chip Hewlett Packard (HWP), whose stock gained 1-3/8 to 104.
On the Nasdaq, Intel (INTC) advanced 1-11/16 to 82-3/4 and Cicso Systems (CSCO) was up 7/16 to 69-3/8.
Among telecommunications issues, shares of Finnish wireless telecom specialist Nokia (NOK) gained 1-5/16 to 85-1/4 after the company unveiled a prototype of MediaScreen -- a combination of wireless phone, Internet and TV technology.
Finally, investors showed signs of approval for medical device maker Medtronic's purchase of Xomed Surgical Products (XOMD), a maker of surgical instruments for the treatment of ear, nose and throat problems. Shares of Xomed soared 6-3/4, or more than 13 percent, to 58, while Medtronic (MDT), which is to pay about $800 million for Xomed, saw its stock ease 11/16 to 76. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
