Wall St. keeps its gains
|
 |
January 8, 1999: 1:39 p.m. ET
Stocks trade mostly higher after strong jobs report, Acampora comment
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. stocks were mixed in afternoon trading Friday, with the Dow industrials and the Nasdaq plowing through record territory, while the S&P index lingered around unchanged levels.
Shortly before 1:30 p.m. the Dow Jones industrial average was 54.07 points higher at 9,591.83. Advances trailed declines 1,453 to 1,462 as trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange reached 575 million shares.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 15.42 to 2,341.51 and the S&P 500 index eased 1.17 to 1,268.56. (Click here for a look at today's CNNfn market movers)
A surge in non-farm payrolls and a drop in the unemployment rate to 4.3 percent in December fueled much of the buying on Wall Street.
Investors looking for excuses to load up on stocks were also helped by Ralph Acampora, Prudential Securities' chief technical analyst, who said he would be invested 100 percent in stocks at this time.
Acampora's comments came in contrast with those of Goldman Sachs' Abby Joseph Cohen, who only a day earlier trimmed the stock allocation in her model portfolio but kept her bullish outlook for the market.
The bond market tumbled after the stronger-than-expected jobs report triggered speculation that the Federal Reserve may refrain from future interest rate cuts amid signs that the economy is going strong. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond fell 1/2 of a point in price for a yield of 5.25 percent.
The employment report gave a brief reprieve to the dollar from its latest drop against the Japanese yen. The dollar also traded higher against the euro.
Hunger for technology
In the stock market, investors' desire for technology stocks, although not completely gone, seemed spotty after days of heavy buying.
Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) were down 1-1/8 at 149-3/8 after a brief rally at the open. Published reports suggested AT&T might be interested in buying the Microsoft Network and other Microsoft media properties.
Elsewhere among the hot techs, Cisco Systems (CSCO) surged 1-9/16 to 105-3/6, Dell Computer (DELL) gained 3/4 to 78-15/16 and Intel (INTC) climbed 1/4 to 129-1/2. Dow component IBM (IBM) was down 2-11/16 to 187-1/2.
In the ever-expanding Internet corner, shares of Yahoo! (YHOO) soared 28-1/4 to 348-1/4 and the stock of Amazon.com (AMZN) advanced 29-11/16 to 188-9/16.
Among the day's newsmakers, shares of Dow component AT&T (T) gained 3-1/8 to 85-3/8 after the long-distance giant issued a bullish earnings forecast. AT&T said it expects earnings from continuing operations in 1999 to be between $4.20 and $4.30 a share, compared with market estimates for $4.09 a share. The forecast excludes AT&T's planned merger with Tele-Communications (TCOMA) and its planned repurchase of up to $4 billion of its shares.
AT&T also said it will split its stock 3-for-2 after the completion of the TCI merger.
Another Dow component, Alcoa (AA) also surprised investors with strong earnings news and saw its stock shoot 6-5/16 higher to 83-9/16. Overcoming a slump in world aluminum prices, Alcoa said it earned $1.19 a share in the fourth quarter, beating consensus estimates for $1.06 a share. The company also announced a 2-for-1 stock split.
On the downside, sporting goods retailer Hibbett (HIBB) tumbled 8-3/8 to 19-1/8 after warning its fourth-quarter sales won't meet market expectations.
-- by staff writer Malina Poshtova Zang
|
|
|
|
 |

|