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CNNfn market movers
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September 8, 1998: 2:25 p.m. ET
Ascend climbs, Ba by Bells whine, and physicians-manager firm looks sickly
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A solid rally on Wall Street lifted the stocks of airlines, banks, Internet giants, oil refiners and retailers, among others, as the Dow held on to 200-plus point gains Tuesday afternoon.
But no matter how well the market overall was faring, jumpy investors were still ready to dump companies predicting weakness ahead.
People's Bancorp (TSBS) cashed in, up 1 to 9-5/16 after Sovereign Bancorp (SVRN) said that it will buy the bank-holding company for $875 million. Sovereign shares slipped 11/16 to 12-7/16.
Concentra Managed Care (CCMC) was looking sickly, down 6-1/8 to 6-1/16 after the physicians' practices manager said it will see lower-than-expected earnings in its third quarter due to a fall in revenue.
RFS Hotel Investors (RFS) hit a new 52-week low, falling 1-3/16 to 13-5/16 after the real estate investment trust said it scrapped a plan to be bought by Equity Inns (ENN) for $990 million in stock. Equity Inns gained 15/16 to 11-5/8.
MedImmune (MEDI) shot upward 6-1/8 to 56-5/8 after the biotechnology company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave its approval to another manufacturing facility in Germany to make Synagis, an antibody to prevent respiratory disease in children.
Global-Tech Appliances (GAI) got grated, chopped, and blended, dropping 1-7/16 to 5-1/16 in the first trading day after the appliance maker said it expects its sales to fall below estimates for the rest of the fiscal year.
The company, which also put off the completion of a plant expansion in China, said orders expected from Sunbeam (SOC) had not materialized and are not expected to appear in the foreseeable future.
General Electric (GE) climbed 3-1/2 to 79-3/8 after the diversified media and electronics giant said its GE Aircraft Engines unit expects $10 billion in sales for 1998, up 28 percent from 1997.
Heilig-Myers (HMY) was fraying, down 2 to 8-7/8, after the furniture chain reported a drop in August sales in stores open at least one year and said it expects to post lower earnings in the third quarter.
Newmont Mining (NEM) was headed underground, losing 1-5/8 to 18-3/8 after the gold miner said it would stop exploration in the Philippines due to conflicting laws there.
On the upside, Coca-Cola (KO) was up 5/8 to 62-3/4 even though Morgan Stanley Dean Witter cut its earnings-per-share targets for the soft-drink giant because of a strong dollar.
AES (AES) soared 4-3/8 to 28-7/8 after Morgan Stanley opened its coverage of the electric-utility operator with a strong buy.
Boeing (BA) gained 2-3/16 to 36-1/8 after the aerospace giant announced at an air show in Britain that it has landed two deals for its next-generation 737's.
Retailers' registers ring roundly
Cashing in particularly well on the market's rally Tuesday were some of the nation's retail chains.
Discount retail giant and Dow stock Wal-Mart (WMT) gained 1-9/16 to 60-1/16, PC vendor CompUSA (CPU) rose 1-3/4 to 15-11/16, hip clothes vendor The Gap (GPS) roared up 5-3/16 to 58-11/16, and home-improvement giant Home Depot (HD) climbed 2-3/16 to 40-1/2.
Internet players sing happy tune
Also chiming in were Internet stocks, which got a lift after a traumatic series of sessions in recent weeks.
Brokerages gave a lift to at least two companies in the sector. GeoCities (GCTY) was up 1-5/8 to 22-1/2 after Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and Hambrecht & Quist opened coverage of the Internet community operator with a buy and Goldman Sachs opened the company with a market outperform.
Global Crossing (GBLX) rose 3-1/2 to 24 after Deutsche Bank and Salomon Smith Barney started the Internet telecom-services provider with a buy. Merrill Lynch opened its coverage with a near-term accumulate and long-term buy.
Other gainers included the Internet search engine maker Inktomi (INKT), up 6-1/8 to 59-7/8, NetGravity (NETG), gaining 1-7/16 to 9-7/8, and DoubleClick (DCLK), rising 2-1/16 to 24-3/4.
Baby Bells are one dark spot
But the Baby Bells rang up losses after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Friday overturned a lower-court ruling and said the regional phone companies must convince regulators they have opened their markets before they can get into long-distance.
Among those headed lower were three Baby Bells that had asked the court to rule parts of the landmark 1996 Telecommunications Act were unconstitutional.
SBC Communications (SBC) was off 3/16 to 37-3/8, would-be merger partner Ameritech (AIT) was down 15/16 to 45-13/16, and U.S. West (USW) fell 9/16 to 48-13/16.
As for the other two Baby Bells, BellSouth (BLS) fell 1/4 to 65-5/16, while Bell Atlantic (BEL) was unchanged at 42-1/8.
Networking systems provider Ascend Communications (ASND) got a lift from one Baby Bell, soaring up 4-3/4 to 43-1/2 after Bell Atlantic extended its contract with Ascend to act as its key supplier for its high-speed data network.
Fellow communications equipment maker Lucent Technologies (LU) shot up 4-5/8 to 79-7/8 after Alex. Brown raised its rating of the company to buy from market perform. 
-- by staff writer Jamey Keaten
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