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CNNfn market movers
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December 1, 1998: 11:20 a.m. ET
Pacific Sun gets burned again, other retailers also hurt; drug deal is no upper
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The approaching winter holidays gave little cheer to a surf- and sunwear vendor Tuesday as one of several retail companies making waves on the day's list of market movers.
Getting burned again was Pacific Sunwear (PSUN), off 2-1/16 to 12-3/4, or 14 percent, at a new 52-week low, after the summertime-clothes vendor said late Monday sales at its stores open at least a year -- known as same-store sales -- fell 1.6 percent last month, even though overall sales rose 25 percent.
Unable to soothe the pain was a company announcement it would buy back 1 million shares. Pacific Sunwear plunged on Nov. 24, after reporting disappointing earnings.
But getting a jolt on monthly sales data was java giant Starbucks (SBUX), which climbed 2-9/16 to 48-11/16 after announcing same-store sales rose 6 percent last month.
Lehman Brothers upped its 9- to 12-month price target on Starbucks to 67, up from 52.
Dow component Sears Roebuck (S) lost 2-3/16 to 45-1/4 after Bear Stearns downgraded the department store chain to "attractive" from "buy," citing lackluster same-store sales last month.
Deal not an upper for drug stocks
Mixing drugs and agrochemicals had a decidedly unfavorable effect for stocks of the French drug maker Rhone-Poulenc (RP) and Germany counterpart Hoechst (HOE).
American depositary receipts of Rhone-Poulenc lost 3-1/16 to 46-15/16 and those of Hoechst dropped 1-3/16 to 40-13/16 after the two confirmed they will merge their pharmaceutical and farm chemicals units on the way to a full merger in three years.
Elsewhere in a softening drug sector, U.S. giant and Dow stock Merck (MRK) dropped 2-1/8 to 153, Schering-Plough (SGP) slipped 2-5/8 to 104-1/8, Pfizer (PFE) shed 2-3/8 to 109-9/16, and American depositary receipts of Britain's Smithkline Beecham (SBH) lost 1/8 to 60-13/16.
Nicks again on bright Internet face
The Internet sector was again walking the plank, seemingly headed for a dive after key companies got wind in their sails over the past several weeks.
Among those pulled lower were the online auctioneer Onsale (ONSL), down 6-13/16, or 11 percent, to 54-11/16, online advertising consultant DoubleClick (DCLK), off 2-11/16 to 37-13/16, and online community provider GeoCities (GCTY) slipped 2-1/2 to 27-1/2. 
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