Friday's Market: Stocks Strengthen Late, Finish Higher

The Dow posts a triple-digit gain, and the Nasdaq rebounds in the afternoon to close up.

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Publish date:: Feb 22, 2002 4:45 PM EST

Updated from 4:10 p.m. EST

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average finished with a triple-digit gain, and the tech-heavy

Nasdaq, after spending most of the session in negative territory, managed a slight gain Friday.

The Dow with a gain of 133.47 points, or 1.4%, to 9968.15. The Nasdaq finished higher by 8.30 points, or 0.5%, to 1724.54, and the

S&P 500 was up 8.89, or 0.8%, at 1089.84.

Computer Associates

(CA) - Get Report

received confirmation that the

Securities and Exchange Commission

and the U.S. attorney's office have launched preliminary investigations into the company's finances. Shares of the software developer fell $2.91, or 15.4%, to $15.99.

BEA Systems

posted a fourth-quarter profit, excluding impairment and restructuring charges, of $31.3 million, or 7 cents a share, in line with analysts' expectations. Revenue for the quarter dropped to $231.3 million from $256 million. The company lowered guidance for the first quarter, forecasting revenue of $220 million to $225 million. The stock dropped 95 cents, or 6%, at $14.86.

Circuit City

(CC) - Get Report

was one of the biggest percentage losers on the

New York Stock Exchange after the consumer electronics retailer said it plans to spin off its

CarMax

(KMX) - Get Report

operation. The company also warned that fourth-quarter profits and sales will be lower than anticipated. The stock fell $7.04, or 30%, to $16.55.

Xilinx

(XLNX) - Get Report

raised its revenue outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter, projecting 10% growth based on stronger-than-expected sales of its programmable chips. The stock was up 92 cents, or 2.7%, to $34.93.

TRW

(TRW)

rose after

Northrop Grumman

(NOC) - Get Report

proposed to acquire the defense and engineering concern. TRW shares jumped 26.4% to $50.30, while Northrop Grumman lost 6.7% to $109.95.

Overseas, stocks were mostly lower. London's FTSE 100 lost 0.4% to close at 5051, and Germany's Xetra Dax slid 2.2% to 4746. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.6% to 10,357, and the Hang Seng lost 1.2% to close at 10,665.

Government fixed-income securities were mostly higher. Around 4 p.m. EST, the 10-year Treasury note was up 6/32 to 100 12/32, yielding 4.82%.