Exactly Where's the Glow? Investors Want '02 to End
By E.S. BROWNING
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
As is often the case this time of year, optimism about the future is helping buoy stocks -- but this year, the optimism is decidedly limited.
Although most stocks managed mild gains Monday, extending Friday's strong rebound, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was pulled down by Wal-Mart Stores, which offered another miserly projection for holiday shopping. Trading volume was light, with only 1.09 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange -- well below the year's average of 1.46 billion.
"Usually this time of year there is a positive glow about people. Usually the market and stock prices trade up. But this year, people can't wait to be done," said Andy Brooks, head of stock trading at Baltimore mutual-fund group T. Rowe Price. "Just about everybody has already written this year off and is trying to figure out what is going to work next year."
Although more stocks rose than fell on the Big Board and the Nasdaq Stock Market, the Dow industrials slipped 0.21%, or 18.03 points, to 8493.29. They are down 15% this year, 28% off the record set three years ago.
"Most of the day's move was in technology stocks, and it wasn't on much volume at all," said Matthew Johnson, head of U.S. stock trading at New York brokerage firm Lehman Brothers. The threat of war is holding many investors back, he said.
The Nasdaq Composite Index, dominated by large technology stocks, rose 1.37%, or 18.64 points, to 1381.69. It still is down 29% this year, 73% off its record. The broad Standard & Poor's 500-stock index edged up 0.18%, or 1.62 points, to 897.38 -- down 22% this year, 41% off its record.
Among the worries investors are trying to get past: weak retail sales, possible class-action suits against major banks and brokerage firms, rising oil and gold prices, the general strike in Venezuela and escalating talk of war with Iraq.
Outside the U.S., stocks advanced in dollar terms. The Dow Jones World Stock Index, excluding U.S. stocks, rose 0.13%, or 0.13 point, to 103.64.
In major U.S. market action:
Stocks were mixed. On the Big Board, 1,708 stocks rose and 1,524 fell.
Bonds were little changed. The 10-year Treasury note fell 3/32, or $1.25 for each $1,000 invested. The yield, which moves inversely to price, rose to 3.965%. The 30-year bond was down 1/32 to yield 4.895%.
The dollar was mixed. Late in New York, it traded at ¥120.42, down from ¥120.50, while the euro fell against the dollar to $1.0261 from $1.0268.
Write to E.S. Browning at jim.browning@wsj.com
Updated December 23, 2002 8:00 p.m. EST |
