July 19, 1996: 3:27 p.m. ET
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - After two sessions of
renewed confidence, Wall Street became weak-kneed
again Friday as new earnings reports failed to inspire
investors.
The Dow Jones industrial average, which jumped
87.30 points on Thursday, was off 30.33 points to
5,433.85 at 2:30 p.m. The blue chips got a boost
Thursday from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan
Greenspan's comments before Congress that he
thought inflation was under control and expected an
economic slowdown sometime this year.
That emboldened investors, who took the
comments to mean the Fed would not raise interest
rates. Although, Greenspan went out of his way to say
the Fed was prepared to hike rates if economic
conditions warrant it.
The Big Board matched the blue-chip measure.
New York Stock Exchange declines led advances,
1,456-816, on volume of 312.5 million shares.
The other key stock market indexes were also
weak, with the S&P 500 dipping 5.60 points to
637.96, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 11.90 points
to 1,097.92.
The bond fell back from Thursday's rally. The
Treasury's long bond fell 15/32 in price to hike the
yield to 6.96 percent.
Quarterly corporate results continued to factor into
investor sentiments, particularly in the technology
sector, where three leading stocks were down sharply
after reporting earnings late Thursday.
Sun Microsystems (SUNW) dropped 3-5/26 to
55-1/8 despite a 34 percent jump in operating earnings.
The earnings met expectations, but overall profits were
diminished by some one-time charges.
Netscape Communications (NSCP), likewise, was
down after reporting higher profits. Investors
apparently didn't like the sound of higher expenses in
the future. Shares slipped 4-1/4 to 52-1/4.
Iomega (IOMG) posted a profit for the last quarter,
but the disk drive maker predicted a tougher sales
environment next quarter. Shares in the company
plunged 5 to 23.
Meanwhile, Cirrus Logic (CRUS) slipped 3/16 to
15-3/16 after reporting a loss compared to a profit for
the same quarter last year. Amgen (AMGN) rose
1-7/16 to 56-3/4 on a 30 percent jump in profits and
DSC Communications (DIGI) rose 2-5/8 to 29-3/4 after
the company beat Wall Street earnings expectations.
Airline stocks suffered, pulling down the
transportation index. Disappointing earnings from Delta
Air Lines and the tragedy of TWA flight 800 were
behind the weakness.
Delta Airlines (DAL) lost 2-1/2 to 72-3/8 despite a
27 percent jump in profits, AMR, parent of American
Airlines (AMR) fell 3-1/8 to 78 and UAL (UAL),
parent of United Airlines, dropped 2-7/8 to 44-7/8.
TWA (TWA) was off 11/16 to 9-9/16.
Appliance maker Sunbeam (SOC) soared 5-5/8 to
18-1/8. On Thursday, the company said it hired Al
"Chainsaw" Dunlap as its new chairman. Dunlap
earned a reputation for boosting profits and slashing
jobs at several companies, including Scott Paper |
