MARKET SNAPSHOT UPDATE
Cisco turns lower
Dow stocks edge up; Nasdaq slumps
By Julie Rannazzisi, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:13 AM ET May 9, 2000 Market Pulse
Bond Report
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- The tech sector turned lower Tuesday after a brief stint in positive territory as buyers appeared fatigued and unwilling to commit to the upside. The Dow Industrials, on the other hand, gained on strength in its consumer and industrial components.
Market participants are awaiting the earnings results of a number of bellwethers this week to set the tone for the tech sector. After the close Tuesday, Cisco Systems (CSCO: news, msgs) will report third-quarter earnings. The networking giant, which came under heavy selling pressure on Monday, is expected to earn 13 cents a share, per First Call. See Earnings Preview. Cisco edged down 11/16 to 62 1/16, erasing earlier gains.
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The Dow Industrials inched up 8 points, or 0.1 percent, to 10,611 at 10:58 a.m.
Upside leaders included Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Wal-Mart. Movers on the downside included shares of International Paper and Hewlett-Packard.
Coca-Cola (KO: news, msgs) shares climbed 1 7/8 to 50 3/8 following an upgrade to Goldman Sachs' recommended list from its previous "market performer" rating.
Wal-Mart (WMT: news, msgs) posted first-quarter earnings of 30 cents a share compared to the First Call estimate of 29 cents per share. The company earned 20 cents in the year-ago period. The stock rose 1 1/2 to 53 7/8.
Shares of Caterpillar added 11/16 to 39 5/8. The company (CAT: news, msgs) was upgraded to a "buy" from a "hold" rating by ABN Amro. See Rating Revisions.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 67 points, or 1.8 percent, to 3,601. The Nasdaq 100 index lost 66 points, or 1.9 percent, to 3,455.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.5 percent while the Russell 2000 Index of small-capitalization stocks dropped 1.4 percent.
A total of 291 million shares traded on the NYSE while 453 million changed hands on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Losers beat winners by 13 to 9 on the NYSE while advancers matched decliners on the Nasdaq.
Separately, surging demand for wireless devices buttressed semiconductor sales to a record $14.96 billion in March -- a 33.8 percent year-to-year increase -- the Semiconductor Industry Association said Tuesday. See full story. However, the news didn't benefit the chip sector and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index shed 0.8 percent. (See 1-year chart of index.)
Among the downside movers were Intel (INTC: news, msgs), off 5/8 to 117, Rambus (RMBS: news, msgs) down 6 25/64 to 184 3/8, and Applied Materials [a: amat], off 2 7/16 to 93 1/4.
In other news, Sprint (FON: news, msgs) will purchase approximately 26 million shares from the nation?s second-largest Internet service provider EarthLink for about $431 million, or $16.50 per share, bringing its overall investment in the company (ELNK: news, msgs) to 26.7 percent. See full story. EarthLink shares gained 2 3/8 to 19 3/8 while Sprint was off 1/16 to 60 3/16.
Earnings news
Dollar General (DG: news, msgs) reported a first-quarter profit of 17 cents a share, matching the First Call estimate. The company earned 14 cents in the year-ago period. The stock rose 9/16 to 23 1/4.
CVS Corp. (CVS: news, msgs) checked in with first-quarter earnings of 47 cents a share, in line with the First Call estimate. The company earned 40 cents in the year-ago period. Shares edged down 1/8 to 44 5/8.
PSINet (PSIX: news, msgs) posted a first-quarter loss from operations of $1.06 per share, less than the First Call prediction of a loss of $1.28 per share. The company lost 56 cents in the year-ago period. the stock gained 1 to 25 5/16.
Treasury focus
Bond prices rose following six straight sessions of declines that saw the yield on a 30-year bond climb by nearly 30 basis points.
The market must absorb Treasury's 5- and 10-year refunding issues over the next couple of trading sessions. On Tuesday, a total of $12.0 billion in 5-year notes will be sold while $8.0 billion in 10-year notes will be offered on Wednesday.
The 10-year Treasury note rose 9/32 to yield 6.54 percent and the 30-year bond added 19/32 to yield 6.205 percent. See Bond Report.
In economic news, Tuesday will see the release of March wholesale inventories. View economic calendar and forecasts and historical economic data.
In currency markets, the dollar gained more ground against the yen, with weakness in Japan's stock market hurting the currency. The Nikkei 225 index fell 355.42 points, or 1.95 percent, to a six-month closing low of 17,844.54. See full story.
Dollar/yen rose 0.6 percent to 109.54 while euro/dollar inched up 0.1 percent to 0.8970.
In the commodity arena, June crude added 1 cent to $28.10 while the Bridge CRB index gained 0.51 to 216.23. View latest commodity prices.
Julie Rannazzisi is markets editor for CBS MarketWatch. |
