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Street on Greenspan watch
Major stock gauges barely higher after recent rally, techs edge up ahead of remarks from Fed chief.
June 6, 2005: 5:46 PM EDT
By Alexandra Twin, CNN/Money Staff Writer
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Techs rose and the broader market meandered as investors held back ahead of key news due later in the week, including testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan Monday evening.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 6.06 to 10,467.03, Charts) and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (up 1.49 to 1,197.51, Charts) index ended just above unchanged. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite (up 4.33 to 2,075.76, Charts) added a few points.

Treasury prices rose, lowering their yields and the dollar fell versus other major currencies.

Friday's sell-off snapped the market's recent rally, with investors confused about the health of the economy and the pace of interest rate hikes. That confusion kept investors cautious Monday ahead of a pair of speeches due from Greenspan.

The central bank chief is due to address a group of international bankers via satellite hookup Monday evening and the Joint Economic Committee of Congress Thursday morning.

While Greenspan is unlikely to say anything too specific about interest rate policy, he may make more general comments about the economy and investors, as always, will be weighing every word.

"Greenspan's comments will be watched, as well as the Treasury auctions over the next few days and the trade balance Friday," said Paul Levine, president at money manager Lifetime Financial Strategies.

But those reports are not likely to give the market much of a boost this week, he added, with the market likely stretched after the recent rally.

A 1 percent drop in oil prices failed to inspire investors. U.S. light crude for July delivery fell 54 cents to settle at $54.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"There's no economic news and just a few sleepy deals, and so I think we're just easing our way into the new work week," said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co.

A number of mid-quarter updates from some big companies later in the week -- including Intel on Thursday -- could help shake things up a little bit, Hogan said.

WaMu leads merger Monday

Washington Mutual (down $1.03 to $40.54, Research), the biggest U.S. savings and loan, agreed to buy Providian Financial (down $0.33 to $17.63, Research) for $6.5 billion in a cash-and-stock deal. Providian is a credit card issuer.

In the REIT sector, ProLogis (down $1.26 to $40.11, Research) said it will buy rival Catellus Development (up $3.75 to $32.99, Research) for $3.6 billion in cash and stock.

In technology news, Apple Computer (down $0.35 to $37.89, Research) announced a switch to Intel (down $0.16 to $27.17, Research) chips starting in 2006 from its current supplier, IBM (down $0.79 to $75.00, Research). The news was announced in the mid afternoon, and confirmed earlier speculation. All three stocks edged lower.

But strength in the Internet sector kept the Nasdaq afloat. eBay (up $0.84 to $38.64, Research) rose after a Barron's article over the weekend said that the stock at its current price represents a bargain.

Yahoo! (up $0.60 to $38.52, Research) shares rose the company cut its U.S. listing fees for auctions, so as to better compete with eBay.

Google (up $10.68 to $290.94, Research) gained, too, and the Goldman Sachs Internet (Charts) index added 0.7 percent.

ATI Technologies (down $1.58 to $13.68, Research) warned that fiscal third- and fourth-quarter sales will miss forecasts, sending its shares more than 10 percent lower in active Nasdaq trade. The graphics chipmaker blamed the shortfall on a shift in sales toward the low end of its product line.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers nine to seven on volume of 1.17 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers edged decliners by a narrow margin as 1.50 billion shares changed hands.

Treasury prices inched higher, lowering the 10-year note to around 3.95 percent from 3.97 percent late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar fell against the euro and the yen.

COMEX gold added $2.60 to settle at $428.40 an ounce, bouncing with other dollar-traded commodities.  Top of page

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