Wall St. bewitched
|
|
November 20, 1998: 1:38 p.m. ET
Blue chips higher, other issues pause amid futures, options expirations
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. stocks remained mixed in afternoon trading Friday, with blue chips climbing on the back of strength in markets overseas while technology issues took a step back at the end of a stellar week.
Shortly before 1:30 p.m. the Dow Jones industrial average was 52.52 points higher at 9108.57. On the New York Stock Exchange, advances led declines 1,513 to 1,316 as 450 million shares traded. Volume was heavier than usual, largely due to the "double witching" expirations of stock futures and options.
Strong gains in markets from Tokyo to London, as well as a reassuring speech by U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan in Frankfurt contributed to the market's early rally. But investors eager to take home some profits before the weekend tamed Wall Street's advance.
The Nasdaq Composite eased 3.52 to 1,916.16 and the S&P 500 index climbed 3.88 to 1,156.49. (Click here for a look at today's CNNfn market movers.)
The bond market traded mostly higher, with the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond rising 18/32 of a point in price for a yield of 5.19 percent.
The dollar traded modestly lower against the Japanese yen and slightly higher against the German mark.
Internet on fire
In the stock market, already overheated Internet issues continued to generate sparks as droves of investors busied themselves in the sector following news of strong earnings and stock splits among two industry leaders.
Lighting the way, online bookseller Amazon.com (AMZN) soared 16-13/16, or nearly 11 percent, to 170-1/16 after the company late Thursday announced a 3-for-1 stock split.
But Web portal Lycos (LCOS) failed to follow in the footsteps of Amazon, losing 1-3/8 to 60-5/8 even after reporting its best quarter ever late Thursday with a 166 percent jump in revenue.
Elsewhere in the market, big-name technology issues put in a mixed showing, with shares of Intel (INTC) easing 7/8 to 112 after a strong advance Thursday. Cisco Systems (CSCO) edged up 9/16 to 73-7/8, Microsoft (MSFT) eased 5/16 to 111-7/16, Dell Computer (DELL) gained 9/16 to 63-5/8 and Dow member IBM (IBM) was up 1/16 to 158-5/8.
Financial stocks found mostly buyers. Among the Dow components, American Express (AXP) rose 2-11/16 to 104-1/16, Citigroup (CCI) gained 1/2 to 44-15/16, and J.P. Morgan (JPM) was up 2-5/16 to 108-11/16.
Among the non-Dow financials, Bankers Trust (BT) soared 3-3/8 to 75-3/8 and Chase Manhattan (CMB) rose 5/16 to 61-13/16.
Brokers outshone the banks, with shares of Merrill Lynch (MER) rising 3-7/16 to 70-11/16, Lehman Brothers (LEH) gaining 2-15/16 to 45-1/8 and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) climbing 2-1/2 to 39-3/8.
-- by staff writer Malina Poshtova Zang
|
|
|
|
|
|