Market Modestly Higher as Eyes Turn to Intel Earnings Release
Wall Street's rally yesterday, in the face of
Compaq's
(CPQ)
announcement that its earnings would fall short of expectations, has lent strength to the market today, but there's still enough fear out there that the Street isn't ready to run stocks much higher. Tonight will go a long way toward determining whether those fears are well founded or baseless:
Intel
(INTC) - Get Report
announces its first-quarter earnings after the close.
The big chipmaker is seen as a sort of nexus for tech stocks -- you know how it's doing and you know how the PC makers are doing and you know how component makers are doing and so on. If Compaq's problems really are Compaq specific, than that should be reflected in Intel's numbers and what it says about them in its conference call. The company is expected to earn a split-adjusted 55 cents a share, according to
First Call
.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
was lately up 51 to 10,391, while the broader big-cap average, the
S&P 500
was up a more muted 1 to 1359.
"The broader market is not having quite as good a day today, but after the run they've had, it's not surprising they've had a bit of a break," said Jim Benning, a trader at
BT Brokerage
. Still, Benning sees little potential downside. "Every time they sell off a little bit it draws in buyers. I'd be surprised to see the market sell off to any significant degree here."
The
Nasdaq Composite
was up 29 to 2628 and the small-cap
Russell 2000
was up 7 to 420. Internet stocks were again on a tear;
TheStreet.com Internet Sector Index
was up 28, or 4%, to 818.
9:59 a.m.: Rally in Tech Issues Boosts Stocks
Technology stocks were surging early on after sitting out
yesterday's rally for the most part, as Internet stocks were flying again.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
was up 32 to 10,372. The
S&P 500
was up 3 to 1361. The
Nasdaq Composite Index
was up 25 to 2624. The
Russell 2000
was up 5 to 418.
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
index was up 26 to 817.
TheStreet.com E-Commerce Index
was up 8 to 144.
A host of earnings results were released this morning, as companies on balance reported in-line or better-than-expected numbers.
The 30-year Treasury bond was down 3/32 to 96 31/32, yielding 5.46%.
A couple of key economic reports were released this morning. The Labor Department reported the overall
Consumer Price Index
rose 0.2% in March, while excluding food and energy prices, it rose 0.1%, less than expected by the
Reuters
consensus forecast of economists.
Meanwhile, the
Commerce Department
reported
retail sales
in March rose 0.2%, while excluding autos, sales rose 0.5%.
On the heels of strong earnings reports from
Merrill Lynch
(MER)
and
PaineWebber
(PWJ)
boosted the brokerage sector. The
American Stock Exchange Broker/Dealer Index
was up 8%.
Most Up at Open -- NYSE
National Discount Brokers (NDB) , up 7 5/16 to 62 5/8
.
Most Up at Open -- Nasdaq
Net.B@nk (NTBK) , up 26 1/2 to 185
: The company set a 3-for-1 stock split.
Most Down at Open -- NYSE
General Electric (GE) - Get Report, down 2 1/2 to 114
.
Most Down at Open -- Nasdaq
SkyMall (SKYM) , down 6 3/8 to 16 3/4
: The company yesterday said it expects to post revenues of $13 million in the first quarter, down from the $13.2 million in the year-ago period and it expects to post a loss of between $1.00 to $1.20 a share in 1999.
--
Brian Louis
