Thursday: Taking It Easy Before the Jobs Report
Whole lot of nuthin'.
A thoroughly un-noteworthy day on Wall Street. Derailed tech shares tried to get back on track, but the locomotive has yet to be repaired. Retail issues got a boost on strong January sales. And the honeymoon continued for
Morgan Stanley
(MS:NYSE) and
Dean Witter, Discover
(DWD:NYSE).
Other than that, the day was about as exciting as a
George Michael
comeback tour. Even the fans were asleep.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
waffled as to whether to go higher or lower. It finally decided to jump 26.16 to 6773.06. The broader
Standard & Poor's 500
gave up 1.68 to 779.96. The technology-rich
Nasdaq Composite Index
fell 2.04 to 1346.40, and the
TheStreet Recommends
Russell 2000
toed the line at 365.49.
Analysts said the respite was just a breather. Tech shares -- and the rest of the market -- will resume rising after this year's run-up is digested.
"Tech stocks have a stop-start characteristic," says Joseph Battapaglia, chief investment strategist (and perennial bull) at
Gruntal & Co.
"I'm optimistic overall, and the surprises are going to be on the positive."
Battapaglia says the market may have enough steam to reach 7200.
Traders hope Thursday's
unemployment claims
-- which fell 12,000 to 325,000 -- don't presage Friday's
jobs report
. Too many employed Americans could suggest the
Federal Reserve Board
, which held rates steady Wednesday, might make a pre-emptive strike against inflation at its March meeting.
Concerns over the pace of the economy pushed the yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury to 6.75%.
In the meantime, networking leader
Cisco Systems
(CSCO:Nasdaq) gained 1 to 63 7/8 after its CEO John Chambers made broadly optimistic comments at the
ComNet
conference in Washington, D.C. The stock had given up about 17% over the past 10 sessions.
3Com Corp.
(COMS:Nasdaq) slid 2 5/8 to 52 1/4.
Applied Materials
(AMAT:Nasdaq) rose 3 1/2 to 47 5/8 after Morgan Stanley upgraded the issue.
Computer retailers recovered.
Dell Computer
(DELL:Nasdaq) rose 1 1/8 to 63 1/8, while
Gateway 2000
(GATE:Nasdaq) rose 1 7/8 to 57 1/4.
AirTouch International
(AIT:NYSE) continued rising, jumping 1/2 to 59 1/4.
Intel
(INTC:Nasdaq) fell 4 1/4 to 152 15/16, while closely related
Microsoft
(MSFT:Nasdaq) slid 1 1/4 to 97 1/8.
Retail outlets got a boost from stronger-than-expected January sales. The
Salomon Brothers
same-store sales index rose 7.2%, much higher than the 1.7% rise last year.
Limited
(LTD:NYSE) was up 1/4 to 17 3/8, while
Gap
(GPS:NYSE) jumped 2 3/8 to 32 1/4. Now there'll be one on every corner.
Chain stores were swept up with the retail rally.
Wal-Mart
(WMT:NYSE) rose 1/2 to 23 5/8 and
Sears, Roebuck
(S:NYSE), which sired Dean Witter, Discover, leapt 1 1/4 to 49 3/4.
Left out:
AnnTaylor
(ANN:NYSE). The seller of fashionable women's wear, the subject of a favorable
Jan. 31 story in
The Street
, slipped 1 1/4 to 49 3/4 after it took a one-time charge to close nine stores.
U.S. Detergent
(USAD:Nasdaq) fell 13 1/4 to 20 3/8 after coming clean on its prospects for the fourth quarter. A
PaineWebber
downgrade to neutral from attractive helped clobber the stock.
Auto parts maker
Federal-Mogul
(FMO:NYSE) rose 7/8 to 24 3/8 after announcing a restructuring that will eliminate about 2,900 employees from its payroll. Bet the bond traders are happy.
And the honeymoon continues. Morgan Stanley rose 1 1/4 to 66 1/2 and Dean Witter, Discover jumped 3/8 to 41 as traders whispered sweet nothings in their ears.
By Andrew Morse
