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Strategies & Market Trends : the Women of SI -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rainy_Day_Woman who wrote (929)	3/23/2000 9:09:00 AM
From: Rainy_Day_Woman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1691

NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were seen opening lower on Thursday with investors pocketing profits from a hard-charging biotechnology and semiconductor rally that drove Nasdaq to its fifth-largest daily points gain. But analysts said any pull-back would likely be short-lived as Wall Street begins to focus on the upcoming earnings season, which is expected to be strong based on the small number of profit warnings so far. The Standard & Poor's 500 futures index for June slipped 2.60 points to 1,514.90 while the Nasdaq futures index for June was flat at 4620. ``It looks like we have just a little bit of profit-taking,' said Peter Cardillo, director of research at Westfalia Investments. ``I suspect this is not going to be long lasting. The main focus of attention now is earnings. As we approach the end of the quarter and we don't get many pre-announcements, that is telling us that the earnings season is going to be strong.' With the Federal Reserve's much-anticipated move on Tuesday to hike borrowing costs by another 25 basis points, the suspense was ended on Wall Street and traders can turn their attention to first-quarter earnings that are reported starting in mid-April. ``It looks like we may see a little weakness at the opening,' said Thom Brown, managing director of Rutherford Brown and Catherwood. ``I would expect to see a recovery. I think the focus right now is earnings.' Markets were also awaiting economic news, with non-farm jobless claims for the week ending March 18 expected to rise to 274,000 from 262,000 in the previous week. The figures were due out at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT). A substantially smaller number could indicate a tight job market -- one of the trends in the U.S. economy that led the Federal Reserve to take interest rates higher for the fifth time since mid-1999. The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond gained 10/32 in early trade, with the yield falling to 5.94 percent from Wednesday's close of 5.96 percent. On Wednesday, semiconductor and biotechnology stocks powered the Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC - news) to its fifth-largest points gain ever, with the index rising 153.07 points, or 3.25 percent, to 4,864.75. The broad market gauge, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - news), which boasts many Nasdaq names, gained 6.77 points, or 0.45 percent, to end at a record 1,500.64. Its old record had been set on Tuesday. But the the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - news) fell 40.64 points, or 0.37 percent, to close at 10,866.70. The blue chips, many of which are 'old economy' stocks representing traditional industries, had rallied strongly last week while technology issues had slumped. Among the stocks expected to move on Thursday, Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE:CPB - news), the world's largest soup maker, late Wednesday said Dale Morrison had resigned as president and chief executive following criticism by analysts of the company's declining soup sales and marketing strategy. Campbell shares closed at 29-11/16 on Wednesday. An antitrust settlement between Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) and the federal government could result in tough restrictions on the software giant's conduct, the Wall Street Journal reported. Microsoft closed at 103-1/4. Cisco Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:CSCO - news) expects a 90 percent increase in its revenue from China this year, a company executive told the Wall Street Journal. Cisco closed at 144-3/8. Banking group Chase Manhattan Corp. (NYSE:CMB - news) is in takeover talks with Robert Fleming, the British-based investment banking and asset management group, the Financial Times reported. Chase closed at 92. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. (NYSE:MWD - news) reported earnings for its first quarter of $1.34 per diluted share, up from 88 cents a year earlier and a Wall Street consensus estimate of $1.06. The stock closed Wednesday at 90-1/4.