<font color=blue>MARKET SNAPSHOT--Solid gains in broad market
Techs stocks lead
By Julie Rannazzisi, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 10:06 AM ET Aug 31, 2000 NewsWatch
Latest headlines
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Led by additional buying interest in the technology arena, the indexes climbed Thursday with one of the few areas of weakness coming from the retailers.
The Dow Jones Industrials Average ($DJ: news, msgs) advanced 48 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,151.
AT&T (T: news, msgs) added 75 cents to $32.43. Ma Bell's Chairman and CEO Michael Armstrong, troubled by a slumping stock price, is seriously considering a dramatic restructuring that could include selling off AT&T's residential long-distance business, sources close to the company told the Washington Post. AT&T may also consider issuing a tracking stock instead, the paper added.
The Nasdaq Composite ($COMPQ: news, msgs) added 36 points, or 0.9 percent, to 4,140 while the Nasdaq 100 Index ($NDX: news, msgs) climbed 31 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,000.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($SPX: news, msgs) rose 0.4 percent while the Russell 2000 Index ($RUT: news, msgs) of small-capitalization stocks gained 0.4 percent.
Volume stood at 88.7 million on the NYSE and at 192 million on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Breadth was a touch positive, with winners outnumbering losers by 11 to 9 on the NYSE and by 18 to 11 on the Nasdaq.
Sector movers
The retailers are out with their same-store sales figures, with sloppy results from some outfits and another warning from J.C. Penney weighing on the group. The S&P Retail Index ($RLX: news, msgs) fell 1.1 percent, losing steam for the second straight session.
Late Wednesday, Gap (GPS: news, msgs) reported a 14 percent drop in its August same-store sales compared to an 8 percent rise in the previous month. Read full story. The stock lost $1 to $21.50.
Gap said less momentum in back-to-school sales throughout August was among the factors affecting results. "Given those results and the uncertainties in both the current retail environment and in consumer apparel spending, we continue to see risks and challenges in third and fourth quarters," Gap's chief financial officer Heidi Kunz said. The stock fell to $22.25 in Instinet. The company was downgraded by a cluster of brokerages, including Salomon Smith Barney, Banc of America Securities and CS First Boston.
J.C. Penney (JCP: news, msgs), meanwhile, announced that August sales slipped 0.5 percent. The company said August's below plan sales, higher-than-expected promotional activity and catalog business could adversely affect current estimates of third quarter earnings. See full story. Shares slipped 43 cents to $14.75.
Kmart (KM: news, msgs) reported that same-store sales rose 2.8 percent in August while Wal-Mart (WMT: news, msgs) saw an increase of 5.7 percent in its same-store sales. Kmart was flat at $7.06 while Wal-Mart shed 19 cents to $48.25.
Bond focus
Treasurys reaped some gains in the long end, with the 10-year Treasury note up 1/32 to yield ($TNX: news, msgs) 5.79 percent and the 30-year bond adding 3/32 to yield ($TYX: news, msgs) 5.74 percent.
Thursday's economic news included the release of weekly initial claims, which slipped 3,000 to 318,000. Still ahead are July factory orders, expected to have fallen by 6.8 percent. View Economic Preview, economic calendar and forecasts and historical economic data.
In the foreign exchange arena, dollar/yen (C_JPY: news, msgs) traded off 0.1 percent at 106.46 while euro/dollar (C_EUR: news, msgs) edged down 0.4 percent to 0.8914.
The European Central Bank nudged up short-term rates by 25 basis points Thursday. The ECB indicated that the liquidity sloshing around in the markets represents a risk to price stability and that the prospects for economic growth remain favorable. The fledgling European currency remains at its lowest levels since mid-May.
Turning to the commodity arena, October crude shed 7 cents to $33.35 while the Bridge/CRB index edged up 0.28 to 227.52.
Julie Rannazzisi is markets editor for CBS.MarketWatch.com. |
