NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The Nasdaq composite hit a 10-week high by the close Monday, showing resilience despite a nervous trading day during which a jetliner crashed in New York City, but the Dow Jones industrial average moved lower.
The Nasdaq composite added 11.65 to close at 1,840.13, after falling as much as 46 points, the highest close since 1,864.98 on August 28th.
The Dow fell 53.63 to stand at 9,554.37. It had dropped nearly 200 points in morning trade, one day after returning to its pre-September 11 levels. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 1.98 to 1,118.33.
An American Airlines jet, Flight 587, crashed in the New York City borough of Queens shortly after take-off. The Airbus A-300 was flying from John F. Kennedy Airport to the Dominican Republic shortly after take-off. There were 246 passengers and nine crew members aboard.
The news unnerved investors and sent stocks tumbling on the two-month anniversary of the most horrific terrorist attacks in the nation's history.
However, as reports surfaced indicating that the jet crash was probably an accident, markets recovered.
"Today's disaster was a reason for the market to express its short-term fears," Tom McManus, stock market strategist, Banc of America Securities, told CNNfn's Street Sweep.
A senior FBI official said that there was nothing to indicate that Monday's crash was an act of terrorism.
"The fact that we have recovered a little even with this news shows the buoyancy that we have seen in this market over the last five or six weeks," said Bryan Piskorowski, a market commentator for Prudential Financial.
Trading ceased for two minutes on the New York Stock Exchange at 11:00 a.m. ET in honor of the Veterans Day national holiday, the crash victims, and the men and women currently on active duty in Afghanistan.
"The comparable strength this afternoon says that if this is as bad as it gets, with the economy, with terrorism scares, then we can handle it," James Awad, a money manager with Awad Asset Management, told CNNfn's The Money Gang.
In corporate news, telecommunications and fiber optic equipment maker Ciena (CIEN: up $1.65 to $18.83, Research, Estimates) said it will meet or surpass fourth-quarter estimates of 4 cents a share. The company also said it will cut 10 percent of its work force and is taking a charge of about $1.7 billion.
Cisco Systems' (CSCO: up $0.06 to $19.26, Research, Estimates) CEO John Chambers told Reuters that the networking company will have greater market share and more cash than what it has now, when the economic slowdown ends.
Asian stock markets closed mixed Monday, as Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index fell 1.3 percent to 10,081.56, while major indexes elsewhere in the region closed higher. The weakness spread to European stocks, which closed lower.
Treasury prices were little changed in light overseas trading. The yield on the 10-year note was at 4.32 percent on Friday. The bond market was closed in honor of the holiday. The dollar was lower against the yen and the euro. In London, oil futures fell 96 cents to $20.58 a barrel.
Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, decliners edged advancers 8-to-7 as 976 million shares traded. On the Nasdaq, losers and winners were evenly split as 1.58 billion shares changed hands.
Airlines, bookers among actives
Airliners, hotels, travel bookers and aerospace names were among the issues hurt most directly by the jet crash.
United Technologies (UTX: down $1.76 to $55.30, Research, Estimates) and Honeywell (HON: down $1.21 to $30.52, Research, Estimates) helped keep the Dow in the red.
Reversing the Nasdaq's early slide was strength from Ciena and Cisco, as well as modest gains in the semiconductor and networking sector.
Delta Air Lines (DAL: down $2.72 to $23.27, Research, Estimates), American Airlines' parent AMR (AMR: down $1.64 to $16.49, Research, Estimates), Continental (CAL: down $1.60 to $16.00, Research, Estimates), Travelocity.com (TVLY: down $1.46 to $14.10, Research, Estimates), Priceline.com (PCLN: down $0.22 to $4.28, Research, Estimates) and Marriott International (MAR: down $1.50 to $32.50, Research, Estimates) were among the more active issues.
Companies that provide electronic security and identification software rose. Visionics (VSNX: up $1.31 to $14.15, Research, Estimates), Invision Technology (INVN: up $1.05 to $13.35, Research, Estimates), and Viisage (VISG: up $1.24 to $10.28, Research, Estimates) all moved higher.
Semiconductors got a mixed spate of analysts' comments. Morgan Stanley raised its price target on a bunch of names, while Needham & Co. downgraded Applied Materials (AMAT: up $0.39 to $38.96, Research, Estimates) and Novellus (NVLS: up $0.91 to $38.34, Research, Estimates), two of the names on the Morgan list.
Chipmaker Applied Materials (AMAT: up $0.39 to $38.96, Research, Estimates) was also active after it said it added six additional shutdown days to its current holiday close, in an attempt to save money.
Dynegy's (DYN: up $5.55 to $44.31, Research, Estimates) proposed $9.5 billion buy of energy trading company Enron (ENE: up $0.61 to $9.24, Research, Estimates) is expected to face tough scrutiny from regulators, according to a published report Monday.
Bradley Pharmaceuticals (BPRX: up $0.95 to $15.10, Research, Estimates) raised full-year 2001 guidance to 31 cents per share. Analysts currently expect earnings of 25 cents. 
|
