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Kodak, tobacco hurt Dow
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March 21, 1997: 3:28 p.m. ET
Stocks mostly higher in cautious trading as Street eyes Fed meeting
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Eastman Kodak and Philip Morris brought down the Dow Jones industrial average Friday in cautious trading, as investors kept a close eye on next week's meeting by the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee.
The blue-chip average was down 17.38 points to 6,802.90 at 2:30 p.m. It had opened up nearly 30 points in earlier trading, but fell sharply after component Eastman Kodak (EK) said its sales in January and February were disappointing. Shares in the company tumbled 9-5/8 to 78-3/4, contributing 30 points to the Dow's loss.
In addition, Philip Morris (MO), which dropped 6-1/8 Thursday, fell another 5-1/2 to 110-3/8 as tobacco shares continue their descent following the Liggett Group's decision to settle lawsuits with 22 states. RJR Nabisco (RN) slipped 1/2 to 31. On the other hand, Liggett's parent Brooke Group (BGL) gained 1/8 to 5.
Meanwhile, on the New York Stock Exchange, advances led declines, 1,268 to 1,071, with more than 414 million shares changing hands.
In the broader market indexes, the S&P 500 climbed 2.92 points to 785.57, and the American Stock Exchange index dipped a half a point to 591.03. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite continued to rebound from its recent slump, rising 1.48 points to 1,260.74.
The bond market offered little motivation for stocks. The price of the benchmark 30-year Treasury gained 2/32, shrinking the yield to 6.95 percent.
Traders were reluctant to make any big moves Friday amid anticipation of an interest rate hike. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan roiled the markets again Thursday after sending strong signals that he may launch a preemptive strike against inflation .
With the consensus on Wall Street that a rate increase is likely, portfolio managers already were in the process of shifting their positions, muting the normally volatile triple-witching expiration of options on stocks, indexes and futures.
Drug wholesaler Bergen Brunswig's decision to cancel its $1.65 billion merger with Ivax sent Bergen (BBC) shares up 5/8 to 32-1/8. The company did not initially offer a reason for the decision, but analysts noted that the agreement came under heavy scrutiny. Ivax (IVX) fell 2 to 10-3/8.
IBM (IBM) also applied pressure to Dow, losing 3 to 133-7/8 after Morgan Stanley cut the company's earnings estimate.
Shares in Novell (NOVL) was down 1/8 to 10-1/8 on word that the company will team up with Netscape Communications to form a software company that challenges Microsoft. Netscape (NSCP) climbed 1/2 to 31-1/2, while Microsoft (MSFT) added 11/16 to 95-5/16.
3COM (COMS) dipped 1/2 to 33-1/8 after beating Wall Street's estimates with an 18 percent increase in quarterly profits. The company had warned that it would miss estimates.
Nike (NKE) ran up 3/8 to 67-7/8 in the first trading session after the company said its earnings rose 77 percent last quarter. 
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