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Buyers return to Wall St.
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July 27, 1999: 4:58 p.m. ET
Lured by cheapened technology, blue chip stocks, investors get in the market
By Staff Writers Malina Poshtova Zang and Robert Scott Martin
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Wall Street's lengthy slump appeared to have met its end Tuesday as investors opened their eyes and their arms for technology and blue chip issues cheapened in days of selling.
The Dow Jones industrial average surged 115.88 points, or 1.1 percent, to 10,979.04. On the New York Stock Exchange, advances outnumbered declines 1,628 to 1,368, while trading volume reached 720 million shares.
The Nasdaq Composite index, reflecting a large number of leading technology names, jumped 60.13 points, or 2.3 percent, to 2,679.32. The S&P 500 index gained 15.08, or 1.1 percent, to 1,362.84.
The bond market edged higher, helped by a rebound in the dollar and a deeper than expected decline in July consumer confidence. Waning confidence indicates a slowdown in consumers' willingness to spend, in turn bolstering bond trader hopes that retail-side inflation will ebb without help from another interest rate hike.
The bellwether 30-year Treasury bond gained 9/32 of a point in price as the yield edged down to 6.01 percent from Monday's close of 6.04 percent.
The dollar lost its hard-won overnight battle against the yen but made its way higher against the euro after a top German central banker was quoted in one of his country's newspapers as saying too strong a euro would be damaging to the economy.
Techs attract investors
Days of selling in the technology sector were finally deemed overdone by Wall Street's market participants, as investors rushed in to pick up cheapened Internet and high-tech leaders.
Shares of most high-tech high-performers joined the rally, with Microsoft (MSFT) gaining 1-3/16 to 88-13/16, Intel (INTC) rising 4-11/16 to 67-9/16 and Cisco Systems (CSCO) climbing 1-7/8 to 62-15/16.
Dell Computer (DELL) shares advanced 2-1/8 to 42-1/8, while rival computer maker Gateway (GTW) added 4-3/16 to 74-7/8. On the Dow, IBM (IBM) rose 3-1/4 to 126-1/4, and Hewlett Packard (HWP) was up 3-9/16 to 74-7/8.
Among the day's newsmakers, shares of online auctioneer eBay (EBAY) fell 4-13/16 to 99-9/16 -- even though the company reported earnings late Monday that beat expectations amid soaring revenue and the addition of 1.7 million registered users in the second quarter.
Other major Internet companies also relinquished earlier gains in the last hour of trading. America Online (AOL) shed 2-5/8 to 97-1/2, Amazon.com (AMZN) lost 4-15/16 to 101 and Yahoo! (YHOO) fell 3 to 131-5/16. But CMGI (CMGI) advanced 1-1/2 to 90-1/4 and
Elsewhere in the market, shares of financial-services companies were back on the upward path a day after Dow component American Express (AXP) reported bullish profits. American Express shares soared 5-7/8 to 142-3/8, while fellow Dow member Citigroup (C) added 1/8 to 47-1/4 and J.P. Morgan (JPM) gained 1-1/8 to 135-1/2.
Earnings prompt mixed response
Among other companies reporting earnings, shares of communications provider Qwest (QWST) jumped 1-9/16 to 30-1/8 after the company's second quarter breezed past analysts' forecasts by a penny per share Tuesday.
However, digital-animation house Pixar (PIXR), which reported a likewise unexpectedly bullish quarterly profit late Monday, saw shares fall 6-1/8, or almost 13 percent, to 42 as investors digested the company's warning that revenue from its film "A Bug's Life" would fall off more quickly than earlier forecast. Prudential Securities downgraded Pixar shares to "hold" from "accumulate."
Shares of Airborne Freight (ABF), holding company of shipping company Airborne Express, climbed 1-1/8 to 26 on the back of strong second-quarter earnings of 55 cents per share. Wall Street had expected to see a profit of only 50 cents per share, leaving investors eager to buy into the company.
Cox Communications (COX) gave acquisition-hungry investors something to chew on by agreeing to buy the cable-television assets of Gannett (GCI) for $2.7 billion. Cox shares eased 13/16 to 38, but Gannett stock climbed 1-7/8 to 76-3/8.
(Click here for a look at today's list of CNNfn market movers.)
(Click here for a look at today's CNNfn technology stocks report.) 
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