Tech Rebound Pulls Major Indices Further From Session Lows
While most stocks were still down a lot, midafternoon buying in tech stocks took the market off its lows.
The move in tech looks like its mostly about a rebound in the
Nasdaq 100
futures -- maybe with a little basket buying in the
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter High Tech
index. There's also been some strength in
Dell
(DELL) - Get Dell Technologies Inc. Class C Report
and
Applied Materials
(AMAT) - Get Applied Materials Inc. Report
ahead of their earnings announcements.
Index buying can have an inordinate amount of influence on days like this, when volume is slim.
"It's been a very quiet day," said one narcoleptic tech trader. "Extremely." Yet the trader suspected that the market might be able to muster a late-day move, as some investors bet that tomorrow's
Federal Open Market Committee
meeting won't be as bad as expected.
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The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
was down 95 to 10,818 while the
S&P 500
was off 5 to 1333. The tech-heavy
Nasdaq Composite
was up 5 to 2533 and the
Nasdaq 100
was up 16 to 2141.
TheStreet.com Internet Sector Index
was down 5 to 625, while the
Russell 2000
was down 4 to 439.
2:03 p.m.: Stocks Off Session Lows but Still Down Solidly
To paraphrase
Yogi Berra
, stock markets are efficient, but they take longer.
By midafternoon, the equity short bus seemed to have finally caught up with the bond market's reaction to Friday's greater-than-expected
Consumer Price Index. On very light volume, the major proxies had stabilized, solidly in the red but off their session lows.
The
Nasdaq Composite Index
was off 14 to 2514. Flat Net performance had
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
down 12 to 618, with
Inktomi
(INKT)
putting the most downward pressure on the index.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
was down 138 to 10,775. There was plenty of pain to go around on the Dow, but
United Technologies
(UTX) - Get n.a. Report
was going back for second helpings, lately down 5 15/16, or 4%, to 135 9/16. The relatively broad
S&P 500
was down 11 to 1327.
Smallish-cap issues were extending their losses, with the
Russell 2000
off 5. The truer-measure
S&P SmallCap 600
had slimmed down 2 to 175.
The bond market, on the other hand, was just waiting for tomorrow's
Federal Open Market Committee
meeting, having gotten all this selling out of its system
Friday. The benchmark 30-year Treasury was lately up 5/32 to 90 27/32, its yield dropping to 5.91%.
Market internals were still very unattractive.
New York Stock Exchange
decliners were out in front of advancers 2,098 to 830 on 424 million shares. On the
Nasdaq Stock Market
, 2,344 decliners were leading 1,486 advancers on 487 million shares.
Most active on the NYSE was
AOL
(AOL)
, up 4 3/4 to 130 on 16 million shares.
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report
was the Nasdaq's most active issue, with 18 million shares changing hands. It was up 1 7/16 to 78 3/8.
--
Thomas Lepri
12:52 p.m.: Midday Musings: A New Week Brings the Same Old Light-Volume Selloff
12:01 p.m.: Stocks Test Session Lows in Light Trading
It was a morning session reminiscent of Hal Ashby's
Being There
: dominated by Sellers, with most investors, like
Chauncy Gardner
, preferring to watch.
The major proxies were deep in the weeds on very light volume. At midday the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
was testing its session lows, down 147 to 10,766.
IBM
(IBM) - Get International Business Machines Corporation Report
and
United Technologies
(UTX) - Get n.a. Report
were the biggest drags on the Dow, down 5 5/8 to 233 5/8 and 5 13/16 to 135 11/16, respectively. The relatively broad
S&P 500
was down 15 to 1322.
A technology slump had the
Nasdaq Composite Index
down 31 to 2497. Internet stocks were looking generally lifeless, with
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
down 17 to 613.
Amazon.com
(AMZN) - Get Amazon.com Inc. Report
weighed most heavily on the index (see below).
Smallish-cap issues were getting even smaller, with the
Russell 2000
off 6. The truer-measure
S&P SmallCap 600
lost 2.
Rebounding a bit from its huge slide on Friday, the benchmark 30-year Treasury was lately up 9/32 to 90 31/32, its yield dropping to 5.90%.
Market internals were unequivocally ugly.
New York Stock Exchange
decliners were trouncing advancers 2,054 to 769 on 280 million shares. On the
Nasdaq Stock Market
, 2,192 decliners were harassing 1,334 advancers on 328 million shares.
Most active on the NYSE was
AOL
(AOL)
, up 2 5/16 to 127 9/16 on 11 million shares.
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report
was the Nasdaq's most active issue, with 11 million shares changing hands. It was up 9/16 to 77 7/16.
Tech Focus
Among major tech indices, the
Philadelphia Box Maker Index
was down 4 to 242, the
Morgan Stanley High-Tech
was off 18 to 1011, and the
Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index
had fallen 7 to 390.
Investors aren't pleased with
Amazon.com's
(AMZN) - Get Amazon.com Inc. Report
announcement today that it will discount every book on
The New York Times
bestseller list by 50%. Amazon was lately down 10 11/16, or 8%, to 121 3/4 on the news.
RealNetworks
(RNWK) - Get RealNetworks Inc. Report
was slumping 7 1/4 to 81 1/8 after setting plans for a 4 million-share secondary offering. CEO
Robert Glaser
is selling 475,000 of those shares, while the remainder of the offering's proceeds will go to the company.
TheStreet.com Inc.
(TSCM)
, publisher of this Web site, was lately down 6 5/8, or 14%, to 39 7/16.
--
Thomas Lepri
10:59 a.m.: Stocks Lower in Light, Volatile Trading
With investors tense ahead of tomorrow's
Federal Open Market Committee
meeting, the market at midmorning was exactly what you'd expect it to be: Light, volatile and down.
"It's just an absence of buyers," said Doug Myers, vice president of equity at
Wachovia Securities
. "After
Friday's CPI numbers came out, a lot of stock managers and portfolio managers and the like had to sit down and reassess."
It looks like a lot of them are still reassessing -- or at least staying out of the market until tomorrow's meeting is done with. At this point, the market expects that the Fed will announce a change in bias toward tightening -- basically telling the market they expect they may have to raise rates and preparing investors for that possibility. It's a far cry from this fall, when people were talking about how many more times the Fed was going to
cut
rates this year, and this winter, when everyone was saying the Fed's on hold forever. That makes the outlook for stocks look a little dangerous.
"The market is not a pleasant place to be right now," said Myers. "I guess this is why the call it work."
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
was down 78 to 10,835 while the
S&P 500
was down 8 to 1329. The tech-tuffed
Nasdaq Composite
was down 15 to 2513 and
TheStreet.com Internet Sector Index
was off 8 to 622. The
Russell 2000
was down 3 to 440.
Trading in the bond market was light and volatile. The 30-year was lately down 2/32 to 90 22/32.
--
Justin Lahart
Schwab Trades Increase
Charles Schwab
(SCH)
today said it put through 34% more trades in April than in March. Average daily revenue trades jumped to 207,700 from March's 155,200 and from 101,100 in April of 1998. The company's president and co-chief executive officer, David Pottruck, warned, however, that April's extreme activity isn't being duplicated so far this month. Customers trading habits in May, he said, are closer to that of March.
--
Caroline Humer
9:55 a.m.: Stocks Modestly Lower Amid Rate Concerns
Continuing worries about higher interest rates have the major indices on the downside, though not extremely badly.
Interest rates actually are declining modestly, with the bellwether 30-year Treasury bond up 9/32 to 90 31/32 with its yield easing to 5.90%.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
was down 60 to 10,853, with
IBM
(IBM) - Get International Business Machines Corporation Report
and
General Motors
(GM) - Get General Motors Company Report
applying the most pressure. The
S&P 500
was down 7 to 1331.
On the tech side, the
Nasdaq Composite Index
was off 12 to 2516, with
Amazon.com
(AMZN) - Get Amazon.com Inc. Report
and
Sun Microsystems
(SUNW) - Get Sunworks Inc. Report
leading the way down.
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report
was up 11/16 to 77 5/8, however.
The
Russell 2000
was down 2 to 441 and
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
index was off 3 to 626.
Most Up at Open -- NYSE
Frontier (FRO) - Get Frontline Ltd. Report, up 1 3/4 to 57 7/8
: The company, already set to merge with
Global Crossing
(GBLX)
, was benefiting from terms of Global Crossing's just-announced merger with
U S West
(USW)
.
Most Up at Open -- Nasdaq
Medical Manager (MMGR) , up 14 5/16 to 48 1/16
:
Synetic
(SNTC)
agreed to acquire Medical Manager for $1.4 billion.
Most Down at Open -- NYSE
IBM, down 2 5/8 to 236 5/8
.
Most Down at Open -- Nasdaq
Synetic, down 3 to 92 1/2
: See above.
--
John J. Edwards III