Wall Street builds on gains
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September 1, 1999: 11:54 a.m. ET
Bargain hunters return to blue chips after four days of losses
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Wall Street's gains expanded at midday Wednesday, although caution still prevailed in the market amid the possibility of higher interest rates before year's end and ahead of the August employment report due out Friday.
Shortly before 11:30 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average was 87.07 points higher at 10,916.35. On the New York Stock Exchange, advances outnumbered declines 1,613 to 1,005 as 276 million shares changed hands.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 27.63 points, 1.1 percent, to 2,766.98 and the S&P 500 index advanced 8.26 to 1,328.67.
The bond market lingered in a narrow trading range as investors ignored the day's economic data -- a report showing a 0.3 percent increase in leading economic indicators in July and focused on pending supply of corporate debt. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond was unchanged in price, its yield flat at 6.06 percent from Tuesday's market close.
The dollar continued its descent against both the yen and the euro.
Buying yesterday's losers
In the stock market, investors showed an affinity for financial services companies, one of the market's sectors that suffered a sharp drop Tuesday. Technology issues also remained in favor.
Helping support the Dow's early gains, shares of American Express (AXP) rose 3/16 to 137-11/16, Citigroup (C) gained 1/16 to 44-1/2, and J.P. Morgan (JPM) advanced 1-3/16 to 130-3/8.
But the show of strength on the technology front was much more clear, with Dow member IBM (IBM) rising 3-11/16 to 128-1/4.
On the Nasdaq, shares of Intel (INTC) climbed 2-11/16 to 84-7/8 after the world's leading computer chip maker unveiled a new design Wednesday for a networking chip that should produce faster computer networks.
A potential deal in the hotel industry also provided excitement in the early hours of the trading session. Shares of Promus Hotel (PRH) - operator of the Embassy Suites, Doubletree and Hampton Inn hotel chains -- rallied 2-13/16, or nearly 10 percent, to 31-7/8 following a Wall Street Journal report that Hilton Hotels (HLT) is negotiating the purchase of the company for a price well above its $2.4 billion current market value. Hilton shares eased 3/4 to 11-7/16.
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