2/17/98 Dow Jones News Serv. 16:23:00 (see BOLD)
Dow Jones News Service
Copyright (c) 1998, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Tuesday, February 17, 1998
N.Y. Stocks End Mixed; DJIA Record, Despite Signs Of Strain
By Robert O'Brien
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Planes, trains and automobiles all moved higher in
Tuesday's trading session, but technology stocks lost ground, in what proved to
be a mixed session for equities Tuesday.
Boeing climbed 2 1/8 to 52 1/2, while General Motors advanced 1 7/8 to 64
13/16, and rival auto maker Ford Motor added 1 5/16 to 54 15/16. Most airlines
also were stronger, with AMR climbing 3 11/16 to 134 3/4, as the group
evidenced more of the benefits of cheap fuel prices. Union Pacific rose 1 1/4
to 60 1/16.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average marked a little more progress, and another
record as well. Adding 28.40, or 0.34%, the Dow finished at 8398.50. It marked
the fifth straight session the industrial average closed at an all-time high.
But the worrisome feature of the trading day was the slack performance by the
high-technology sector. Shares of Microsoft, which gained 1 in early trading,
finished down 3 1/8 for the session, closing at 154 3/8 on Nasdaq, where it was
the most actively traded issue with 10.4 million shares changing hands.
Other tech stocks were also losers, including 3Com, which fell 1 3/16 to 33
7/16; Ascend Communications, which dropped 1 1/16 to 33 13/16; and ADC
Telecommunications, which slipped 1 1/2 to 21 1/4.
"The fact that these tech stocks are coming unglued is a further reason to
believe there's not a lot of upside for the market from here," said Steven
Shobin, technical analyst at Lehman Brothers.
Advancing issues enjoyed a narrow lead over decliners on the New York Stock
Exchange, 1,569 to 1,376, according to preliminary data. Trading was relatively
strong, with 592.7 million shares changing hands Tuesday, versus 527.0 million
Friday. (Markets were closed in New York Monday, a national holiday in the
U.S.)
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