MARKET SNAPSHOT
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Techs hold on to minor gains
By Julie Rannazzisi, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 11:13 AM ET Aug 4, 2000 NewsWatch
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NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Technology stocks registered mild gains in mid-morning dealings Friday but buyers remained cautious with the morning's jobs data failing to give the market much direction.
Inside the market, financial and biotech stocks saw the best buying interest while drug and utility stocks lagged. The tech group saw the biggest gains in the networking, computer hardware and Internet arenas while the chip sector fell for a fourth straight session.
Within the employment report, non-farm payrolls fell 108,000 compared to expectations for a 96,000 increase. The unemployment rate remained steady at 4 percent and July average hourly earnings rose by a slightly higher-than-expected 0.4 percent. A survey of economists conducted by CBS MarketWatch.com had expected a 0.3 percent increase in hourly earnings. Read full story.
"The figures were somewhat friendly," said David Jones, chief economist at Aubrey G. Lanston & Co. and a veteran Fed watcher. The overall tone of the release, he added, supports the notion that we're heading for a soft landing.
But the July report does not give a lot of additional information on what the central bank may or may not do at the FOMC meeting in two and a half weeks, Jones said. He said there's less than a 50 percent chance that we'll see a 25 basis point rate hike in August and a greater than 50-percent chance that we'll get a soft landing for the U.S. economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 25 points, or 0.2 percent, to 10,681 at 11:07 a.m. after climbing as much as 34 points earlier in the session.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 13 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,773 while the Nasdaq 100 Index added 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,626.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.1 percent while the Russell 2000 Index of small-capitalization stocks edged up 0.1 percent.
Volume came in at 332 million on the NYSE and at 559 million on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Market breadth was positive, with winners outpacing losers by 12 to 10 on the NYSE and by 20 to 11 on the Nasdaq.
Elsewhere, Trim Tabs said all equity funds had outflows of $5.3 billion over the week ended Aug. 2 compared with inflows of $7.6 billion during the prior week. And equity funds investing chiefly in U.S. stocks saw outflows of $5.0 billion versus inflows of $6.9 billion during the previous week.
Inside the jobs data
The non-farm payrolls drop was due to layoffs of census workers. In fact, the private sector saw a 138,000 rise in payrolls in July - less than the 182,000 average of the first six months of the year.
Meanwhile, June non-farm payrolls were upwardly revised to show a 30,000 increase compared to the previously reported 11,000 rise. View Economic Preview, economic calendar and forecasts and historical economic data.
Specific movers
Walt Disney (DIS: news, msgs) tacked on 1 to 41 15/16. After the close Thursday, the Dow-component posted net income of 21 cents a share in the third quarter, handily surpassing the First Call estimate of 14 cents a share. The entertainment behemoth made 18 cents in the same period last year. Read the full story.
In other earning news, Aetna (AET: news, msgs) checked in Friday with a second-quarter profit from operations of 94 cents a share compared to the First Call estimate of 88 cents a share and $1.03 in the year-ago period. The stock fell 5/16 to 58. See full story.
Treasury focus
Government prices rose mildly in choppy and cautious trading.
The 10-year Treasury note shed 7/32 to yield 5.925 and the 30-year bond lost 3/32 to yield 5.73 percent. The front end of the yield curve, the most sensitive to central bank changes in the fed funds rate, saw healthy gains. See Bond Report.
Turning to the currency arena, the dollar fell against the yen for the fifth straight session, relinquishing earlier gains. Dollar/yen inched down 0.1 percent to 108.30 in recent dealings while euro/dollar added 0.1 percent to 0.9075.
In the commodity arena, September crude climbed 70 cents to $29.36 while the Bridge CRB index added 0.11 to 219.45.
Julie Rannazzisi is markets editor for CBS.MarketWatch.com. |
