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Slow day ends with Dow gains
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August 16, 1999: 5:26 p.m. ET
Stocks move higher in last hour of trading; investors brace for CPI report
By Staff Writer Malina Poshtova Zang
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Despite the market's anxiety over an upcoming key inflation report, Wall Street investors discovered a bullish streak late in the day Monday, leading to a small closing rally for the stock market.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished the day 73.14 points higher at 11,046.79. Market breadth on the New York Stock Exchange was negative, with losers ahead of gainers by 1,552 to 1,394. Trading volume, at 582 million shares, was the lightest so far this year.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 7.46 to 2,645.27 and the S&P 500 index edged up 3.09 to 1,330.77.
The bond market also moved higher, as investors seemed to catch their breath after last week's refinancing and Friday's rally on the back of benign producer inflation data. But market participants appeared reluctant to push prices and yields strongly one way or another ahead of Tuesday's consumer inflation report, one of the last major pieces of economic data before the Federal Reserve holds its next policy meeting Aug. 24.
The bellwether 30-year Treasury bond rose 3/32 of a point in price for a yield of 6.09 percent, down slightly from Friday's close at 6.10 percent.
The dollar fell against the yen and also eased against the euro.
Aluminum turns precious
In the stock market, attention focused on aluminum stocks after the board of Reynolds Metals Sunday rejected an uninvited $5.6 billion takeover bid by industry leader Alcoa. On Monday, Alcoa responded by going hostile with a cash tender offer for all of Reynolds' shares, to be launched later this week.
Shares of Reynolds (RLM) inched down 7/16 to 68-15/16 and Alcoa (AA), a Dow component, edged up 3/8 to 66-7/8.
In the day's other sizable merger news, shares of Nielsen Media Research (NMR) rallied 4-1/2, or nearly 14 percent, to 37-5/16 following news that Dutch publisher VNU has agreed to buy the company, known for its television ratings, for $2.7 billion in cash.
Tech stocks revived
After a week of roller-coaster rides capped by a solid rally Friday, investors came back to the technology sector Monday eager to buy more, even while awaiting earnings reports from two of the high-tech world's leaders early in the week.
Dow member Hewlett Packard (HWP), which released its results after the closing bell, rallied 4-1/4 to 110-1/4. Hewlett Packard said it earned 85 cents a share in its fiscal third quarter, 5 cents more than Wall Street had forecast. The stock was halted for after-hours trading.
Meanwhile, Dell Computer (DELL), expected to report its earnings Tuesday, finished unchanged at 41-7/16.
Among other computer makers, Gateway (GTW) advanced 2-7/8 to 84-5/8 and Compaq (CPQ) gained 13/16 to 23-7/8.
Elsewhere among the high-tech high-flyers, shares of Dow component IBM (IBM) rose 4 to 127-3/8, Microsoft (MSFT) inched down 3/8 to 84-5/16, Intel (INTC) fell 1-3/16 to 78-9/16 and Cisco Systems (CSCO) drifted down 1/16 to 63-1/2.
Also among the techs, shares of National Semiconductor (NSM) climbed 1-3/4 to 30 after analyst Greg Mischou of Warburg Dillon Read upgraded the stock to "buy" from "hold" and set a price target of $40 a share.
And shares of retail store operator Venator (Z), the former Woolworth, rallied 1-1/8, or almost 13 percent, to 10 after the company issued a second-quarter earnings forecast and named Dale Hilpert president and chief executive. Venator said it expects to post a second-quarter loss because of charges related to its exit from several businesses that included almost 500 stores. But outside the charges, the company said it expects to earn 3 to 5 cents a share. Venator's fiscal second quarter ended July 31.
(Click here for a look at today's CNNfn market movers.)
(Click here for a look at today's CNNfn technology stocks report.) 
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