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Dow uneasy ahead of Fed
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November 17, 1998: 10:04 a.m. ET
Stocks drift lower as investors anxiously await interest rate decision
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. stocks opened lower Tuesday as investors opted for caution while awaiting a Federal Reserve interest rate decision later in the day.
At around 10 a.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average was 35.53 points lower at 8,975.72. On the New York Stock Exchange, declining stocks outnumbered gainers 1,207 to 876 as trading volume reached 52 million shares.
The Nasdaq Composite inched off 8.87 to 1,852.81 and the S&P 500 index shed 2.74 to 1,133.12.
The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's monetary policy arm, began a one-day meeting that many market experts expect will result in an interest rate reduction aimed at staving off an economic recession next year.
The bond market edged higher as investors seemed to bet on an imminent interest rate cut. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond rose 10/32 of a point in price, for a yield of 5.26 percent.
The dollar was mixed, stuck in a narrow trading band as investors opted to remain on hold ahead of the Fed's interest rate decision, expected to be announced around 2:15 p.m. ET.
Eye on technology
In stocks, financial and technology issues once again dominated trading.
Among the big-name tech stocks, Dow component Hewlett-Packard (HWP) tumbled 5-3/16 to 60-15/16 as investors appeared disappointed even after the company reported better-than-expected earnings late Monday.
IBM (IBM), another Dow 30 technology leader, eased 13/16 to 158-9/16.
Meanwhile, financial stocks, which rallied sharply Monday on expectations for lower rates, seemed to cool off in early trading Tuesday. Among the Dow components, American Express (AXP) edged down 1/8 to 96-13/16, Citigroup (CCI) shed 1/4 to 43-7/8 and J.P. Morgan (JPM) lost 7/8 to 102-5/8.
Outside the Dow, BankAmerica (BAC) eased 3/8 to 59-3/8 and Chase Manhattan (CMB) lost 7/16 to 57-7/16.
In the day's newsmakers, shares of newly merged transatlantic auto giant DaimlerChrysler (DCX) made their Big Board debut, rising 1/8 from Monday's when-issued price to 84-7/16.
And the stock of Envoy (ENVY), an electronic data processing service provider, surged 4-1/16, or 12.5 percent, to 36-1/2 on news the company had resolved an accounting problem raised by the Securities and Exchange Commission. 
-- by staff writer Malina Poshtova Zang
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