Tuesday, March 30, 1999
Markets
Dow
10K euphoria --
surely
you feel it -- gave way to earnings worries again today, and the market never really got off the ground. On the contrary, after struggling back from early losses, stocks fell into a curious midafternoon swoon after the
Fed
did what everyone expected it to do: nothing. (
TheStreet.com
reported on the Fed's inaction earlier this afternoon.)
Major proxies closed near their session lows. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
lost 93.52 to 9913.26; the
S&P 500
shed 9.42 to 1300.75; the
Nasdaq Composite Index
dumped 12.55 to 2480.29; the small-cap
Russell 2000
fell 0.98 to 398.78;
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
index sank 10.28 to close at 643.88.
European bourses closed mixed, while Hong Kong's
Hang Seng
surged 251.74 to 10,940.21 amid residual
Dow
10K optimism. News of record-high unemployment figures in Japan (see below) kept the
Nikkei
cool. It sank 149.72 to 15,859.12.
For more markets action and news, click
here.
Companies
A California judge yesterday upheld a jury's $120.5 million judgment against
Aetna U.S. Healthcare
(AET)
for refusing to cover the medical care of a patient who ultimately died from stomach cancer.
Bank One
(ONE) - Get Report
today said it will cut up to 4,500 jobs as it streamlines its operations after last year's merger of
First Chicago NBD
and
Banc One
.
Another big hit on
Philip Morris
(MO) - Get Report
: An Oregon jury today ordered the cigarette maker to pay a record $81 million to the family of Jesse Williams, who died of lung cancer in 1997 after four decades of smoking Marlboros.
For more news on companies and stocks, click
here.
Tech
America Online
(AOL)
and
Sun Microsystems
(SUNW) - Get Report
today announced the
Sun-Netscape Alliance
, under which the companies will collaborate on a unified set of e-commerce products, including messaging, directory and security software.
Shares of Internet commerce firm
Priceline.com
(PCLN)
are soaring in their first day of trading, closing up 53 to 69 after hitting an intraday high of 85.
For more tech news and commentary, click
here.
General News
Yugoslav television quoted
Slobodan Milosevic
as saying he would be willing to reduce the Serbian military presence in Kosovo and allow Kosovar refugees to return home if
NATO
attacks ceased. But NATO rejected the proposal, sticking to the terms of the original peace agreement signed by Kosovar rebels, which includes agreeing to a NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Back at the
State Department
,
President Clinton
said that the allies are "determined to stay with our policy."
International
Disagreement over the terms of a share-swap has killed the merger of Swiss aluminum group
Alusuisse-Lonza
and German industrial concern
Viag
, according to Alusuisse-Lonza CEO Sergio Marchionne. "The last thing I want to do is talk with Viag again about reskinning a cat," he said.
The
European Union
approved the $3 billion voice, data and Internet joint venture between
AT&T
(T) - Get Report
and
British Telecommunications
(BTY)
on the condition that AT&T sell U.K. long-distance unit
ACC
and distance itself from U.K. cable company
Telewest
(TWSTY)
, in which AT&T holds a 22% interest. The joint-venture still needs U.S. regulatory approval.
The Japanese government released figures showing the unemployment rate at an all-time high of 4.6% in February, up 0.2 percentage point from last month.
For more international news and commentary, click
here.
Elsewhere
Divvy up that office pool. The
University of Connecticut Huskies
took the national title last night with an improbable 77-74 victory over the
Duke Blue Devils
. (Congratulations to
TSC
markets reporter
Brian Louis
, who made the call.)
Have a dumb question relating to finance? Great. Have a
really
dumb question? Even better. Send it to
MonEmailbag@thestreet.com, and I'll do my best to answer. Include your full name, and please, no questions seeking personal financial advice or regarding personal brokerage disputes. And this reminder: Because of the volume of mail, personal replies can't be guaranteed.
