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Nasdaq sets record high
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September 10, 1999: 5:06 p.m. ET
Blue chip stocks sag, but tech issues charge ahead after tame PPI data
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A benign inflation report triggered a rally on Wall Street Friday, but blue chip stocks failed to keep their gains, even as technology issues drove the Nasdaq to a record high.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 50.97 points to end the week at 11,028.43. The blue chip index eased 0.45 percent this week and is now 20.12 percent higher for the year.
On the New York Stock Exchange, gainers leaped ahead of losers by 1,580 to 1,321 as 807 million shares changed hands.
The Nasdaq composite index rallied 35.01 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,887.03, eclipsing its previous record of 2,864.50 set on July 15. The Nasdaq climbed 1.54 percent this week, extending its gain for the year to 31.67 percent.
The S&P 500 index rose 4.00 to 1,351.96. The broad blue chip index is up 9.96 percent for the year after its loss of 0.41 percent this week.
The bond market rose following news that the core part of the producer price index, which excludes food and energy prices, fell 0.1 percent in August, well below expectations for a 0.1 percent increase. The overall index advanced 0.5 percent, an increase that exceeded forecasts, but analysts attributed the gain to the recent spike in oil prices.
The bellwether 30-year Treasury bond rallied 27/32 of a point in price, its yield shrinking to 6.03 percent from Thursday's 6.09 percent.
The dollar also rose against both the yen and the euro.
Merger news perks up Premark
In the stock market, news that Illinois Tool Works (ITW) is buying commercial food equipment manufacturer Premark International (PMI) for $3.4 billion in stock sent Premark's shares soaring 16-7/16, or almost 48 percent, to 50-11/16. But the stock of Illinois Tool Works dropped more than 8 percent, or 6-7/16, to 73-11/16.
Elsewhere in the market, shares of National Semiconductor (NSM) jumped 2-3/4 to 34-3/4 after the maker of chips for wireless phones and other wireless devices reported much better than expected results late Thursday for the first quarter of fiscal 2000. Excluding gains from the sale of its Fairchild Semiconductor stock, National Semi broke even, compared to analysts' forecast for a loss of 14 cents a share.
Broader market sectors showed a mixed performance, but technology and financial shares charged higher.
(Click here for a look at today's CNNfn market movers.)
(Click here for a look at today's CNNfn technology stocks report.) 
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