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Wall Street turns mixed
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March 26, 1999: 12:02 p.m. ET
Renewed bargain-picking puts new fire under jittery stock market
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Soaring bond prices and a fresh round of bargain-hunting took the edge off Wall Street's losses Friday, but consolidation and caution ahead of the weekend kept the stock market near unchanged levels.
Shortly before 11:30 a.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average was down 12.76 points at 9,823.63. Declines stayed ahead of advances 1,453 to 738 as 76 million shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange.
However, the Nasdaq Composite completely shook off the early selling, gaining 3.94 points to 2,438.74. The S&P 500 index dropped 2.60 to 1,287.39. (Click here for a look of today's CNNfn's market movers.)
The dollar leapt to a two-week high against the yen and record peaks against the euro, firming impressively as global investors made a bid to quality ahead of the weekend as the armed conflict between NATO and Yugoslavia continued.
A sharp rise in bond prices lent the stock market additional staying power. The rebounding dollar, together with a flow of investors buying into the safety of U.S. Treasury debt, pushed the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond up 19/32 of a point in price, sending the yield down to 5.54 percent.
Stock traders, meanwhile, were lightening their positions in the market before the weekend, while some also took advantage of the opportunity to take some profits after Thursday's rambunctious rally.
New uncertainties over the duration of NATO's military involvement in the Balkans, particularly the threat of ground conflict, kept some investors leery of being caught in the market by any bellicose surprises, putting extra selling pressure on stocks.
Techs go down, techs go up
Closer to home, gloom surrounding upcoming first-quarter corporate earnings seemed largely dispelled after encouraging reports from Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (MWD) and Micron Technology (MU). However, some concerns remained, mostly over the technology sector.
Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) slipped 5/16 to 179-3/4 as investors locked in recent gains spurred by the software titan's willingness to settle a broad antitrust lawsuit with the Justice Department and representatives of 19 states.
Other technology stocks moved in separate directions, with Cisco Systems (CSCO) losing 13/16 to 106-5/8 and 3Com (COMS) edging down 1/4 to 23-1/2. However, Intel (INTC) gained 2-9/16 to 120-1/2 and Compaq (CPQ) crept up 3/16 to 31-11/16, while Dell Computer (DELL) added 1/4 to 38-3/4
The Dow's computer components also reversed early losses, with IBM (IBM) climbing 3-9/16 to 174-7/8 and Hewlett Packard (HWP) gaining 2 to 69-5/8.
Banks, brokers ease as well
A day after gaining ground on the strength of Morgan Stanley's bullish earnings report, finance stocks also fell victim to sporadic profit taking.
Morgan Stanley shares slipped 3/8 to 103-1/2, but Merrill Lynch (MER) fought the trend to climb 11/16 to 88-1/4 and Lehman Brothers (LEH) added 1-1/8 to 60.
Banks and other financial-service providers also retreated from Thursday's gains. Shares of Wells Fargo (WFC) slipped 1/2 to 36-3/4 and Bank One (ONE) eased 13/16 to 54-3/4. Dow member American Express (AXP) shed 1-11/16 to 120-13/16 and J.P. Morgan (JPM) eased 1/4 to 121-7/8, but fellow finance blue-chip Citigroup (C) leapt 1-3/4 to 64-3/4.
Drug maker Warner-Lambert (WLA) also slipped, easing 3/32 to 69-1/4 as the company entered an FDA advisory hearing over whether its Rezulin diabetes treatment, which the FDA blames for 28 deaths, can remain on the market with existing warning labels intact.
Taking exception to the overall market softness, however, shares of Dow member McDonald's (MCD) advanced 9/16 to 44-3/4 after Merrill Lynch raised its price target for the stock to $55 from $50 a share. 
-- by staff writer Malina Poshtova Zang with Robert Scott Martin
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