NAPM Report Pushes Stocks Off Session Lows

The Treasury market has also climbed into the black.

Author:: Brian Louis
Publish date:: May 3, 1999 11:17 AM EDT

Soothing economic news helped drive the 30-year Treasury bond off its session lows and lift most major market barometers into positive territory.

The

National Association of Purchasing Management

said its

Purchasing Managers' Index

slipped to 52.8 in April from 54.3 in March. The long bond erased its early loss, up 5/32 to 94 9/32, yielding 5.65%. On Friday, two economic reports, which showed vigorous economic growth, sparked fears of an overheating economy and worries that the

Federal Reserve

might have to raise interest rates to cool it down.

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average

was up 61 to 10,850. The

S&P 500

was up 3 to 1338.

The

Nasdaq Composite Index

was down 5 to 2538. The

Russell 2000

was up 2 to 435.

TheStreet.com Internet Sector

index was up 11 to 645.

Meanwhile, in the news,

MediaOne Group's

(UMG)

board has accepted

AT&T's

(T) - Get Report

$85 cash-and-stock offer for the company, which the board said was a "superior proposal" to the previous merger deal MediaOne reached with

Comcast

(CMCSA) - Get Report

. Under terms of the Comcast deal, Comcast has until Thursday to respond to the AT&T proposal.

AT&T and Comcast rose, while MediaOne slipped.

On the

New York Stock Exchange

, advancers were beating decliners 1,565 to 958 on 215 million shares. On the Nasdaq, winners were beating losers 1,749 to 1,421 on 255 million shares.

On the NYSE, 26 issues had set new 52-week highs while 11 had touched new lows. On the Nasdaq, 48 issues had set new highs while new lows totaled 16.

Meanwhile, one of the contributors to the market's recent surge has been attributed to strong first-quarter earnings. Some market analysts lately have wondered where the market might get its inspiration for more upside, now that the earnings season is drawing to a close.

A handful of earnings reports were released this morning.

Arco

(ARC) - Get Report

posted first-quarter operating earnings of 53 cents a share, vastly outstripping the First Call 21-analyst estimate of 29 cents, but down from the year-ago 65 cents.

theglobe.com

(TGLO)

reported a first-quarter pro forma loss of 47 cents a share, narrower than the First Call two-analyst estimate of a loss of 55 cents. Its stock jumped on the news, up 6 3/4, or 11%, to 67 3/8.

On the Big Board,

America Online

(AOL)

was most active, with 6 million shares changing hands. It was down 5 3/4 to 137.

On the Nasdaq,

Microsoft

(MSFT) - Get Report

was most active, with 8 million shares changing hands. It was down 1 1/16, or 1%, to 80 1/4.