Stocks Close Solidly Higher After Late Surge

The Internet sector posted a big advance.

Author:: Brian Louis
Publish date:: Aug 17, 1999 4:29 PM EDT

A late-session surge pushed stocks solidly higher, while

TheStreet.com Internet Sector

index, led by a sharp run-up in

Amazon.com

, posted a 3.1% advance.

Stocks advanced at the open but quickly eased back. Late in the morning, major stock proxies dipped into the red and logged varying lengths of time underwater before climbing out to finish solidly on the upside.

Stocks found the inspiration for their early session march higher from in-line

Consumer Price Index

data. The

Labor Department

said the overall CPI rose 0.3% in July, while the core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.2% in July, both figures in line with the average forecast of economists polled by

Reuters

. The CPI data was also one of the reasons cited for the bond market's rally. The CPI numbers, combined with market-friendly producer price data from Friday, helped allay some jitters that more than one

Fed

interest rate hike is coming down the road.

Many analysts expect the

Federal Open Market Committee

to raise the federal funds rate 25 basis points when it meets next Tuesday.

As for Amazon.com, it was up 11, or 11.2%, to 109 1/4.

On the

New York Stock Exchange

, advancers beat decliners 1,834 to 1,144 on 695 million shares. On the

Nasdaq Stock Market

, losers beat winners 2,066 to 1,784 on 890.7 million shares.

On the NYSE, 87 issues set new 52-week lows while 46 touched new highs. On the Nasdaq, 81 issues set new 52-week highs while new lows totaled 68.

On the Big Board,

America Online

(AOL)

was most active, with 13.8 million shares changing hands. It was up 2 3/16 to 97 1/8.

On the Nasdaq,

Dell

(DELL) - Get Report

was most active, with 32 million shares changing hands. It was down 5/16 to 41 1/8. After the close, Dell posted second-quarter earnings of 19 cents a share, 2 cents ahead of the

First Call

30-analyst estimate.

Market data above are preliminary. Updated numbers and analysis will follow in the Market Roundup

Earlier...

2:59 p.m.: Major Indices Cling to Modest Gains

Stocks were gaining some momentum on the upside going into the final hour of trading as the 30-year Treasury bond held on to the vast majority of its gains.

2:03 p.m.: Most Major Indices Up Slightly as Treasury Market Continues to Rally

OK, so it's no

Red Hat

(RHAT)

, but shares of

SilverStream Software

(SSSW:Nasdaq) were sporting some

Orson Wellesian

gains nonetheless in its trading debut.

1:21 p.m.: Midday Musings: Market Drags Through Mixed Session After Early Pop

12:26 p.m.: Major Indices Tumble Into the Red

Once upon this morning, the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

followed a trail of breadcrumbs and made it past 11,000, to grandmother's house. In midmorning, the birds ate all the breadcrumbs causing the Dow to grow confused. Now the Dow has left grandmother's and is lost in the woods around its opening number.

11:09 a.m.: Stocks Higher in Light Trading

Stocks were higher after an agreeable

Consumer Price Index

report loosened a few collars.

The CPI came in at an unscary 0.3%, just an inch above economists' expectation of 0.2%. Still, hardly anyone was ready to kick back and relax just yet.