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Street looks to tech stocks
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April 8, 1999: 7:40 a.m. ET
Yahoo!, AMD and Dell all on traders' horizon amid technology stock jitters
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Wall Street will be closely tracking technology stocks on Thursday, as traders digest better-than-expected Yahoo! earnings and Dell Computers holds a much-anticipated analysts' meeting to discuss performance projections.
A day after the Dow closed above the10,000 mark for the second time in one week for a new record high, traders will be looking to see how the technology sector performs in the wake of a jumble of technology stock news late Wednesday.
Shares in Yahoo! (YHOO) surged in after-hours trading after beating first-quarter earnings estimates by 3 cents. But before the earnings were released, Yahoo! and other technology stocks were trading down, reflecting Wall Street's jitters about the sector.
"We saw how fast those stocks could fall," said Patricia Chadwick, director of U.S. equities at Invesco, in an interview with CNNfn's Business Day.
Stocks looked set for a flat opening with S&P futures on the Globex exchange system essentially unchanged.
(Click here for the latest S&P futures quote)
Stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as the Dow rose 121.82 points, or 1.22 percent, to a record 10,085.31. But nervousness over the performance of technology companies pushed the Nasdaq composite index down 18.74 points to 2,544.43.
The S&P 500 index rose nine points to close at a record high.
In Asia, markets in Tokyo and Hong Kong finished at 12-month highs Thursday, largely driven by strong buying of selected blue chips. Meanwhile in Europe, markets were softer after the Bank of England's announcement that it would cut interest rates.
In the bond market, the yield on the 30-year Treasury edged down to 5.49 percent. The dollar dropped to 120.63 Japanese yen from 121.35 late in New York on Tuesday and was slightly higher at $1.0813 to the euro.
Wall Street will be looking at No. 2 chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which said Wednesday that first-quarter revenues will fall substantially short of expectations. Also on traders' horizon is Dell (DELL), whose chairman, Michael Dell, will be meeting with analysts. Its stock fell 3/8 to close at 46-7/16 on Wednesday.
Other stocks to watch on Thursday include Liberty Media Group (LMG) which announced late Wednesday that it earned $2.2 billion during fiscal 1998, after a money-losing 1997.
Philip Morris (MO) could be active, after announcing it is reshuffling some top managers at Miller Brewing Co. Also making news was SBC Communications (SBC), which late Wednesday agreed to meet with federal regulators to discuss possible conditions on its merger with Ameritech (AIT).
On the initial public offering front, investors will get a chance to buy online office supplier ValueAmerica with 5 million shares at $23 each, while iTurf, an Internet network aimed at teen-age girls, also debuts between $16-$18. 
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