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To: Dealer who wrote (5191)	10/3/2000 11:30:26 AM
From: Dealer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

<FONT COLOR=BLUE>MARKET SNAPSHOT--11:42 PM--Major averages chisel out gains Buyers still cautious; Fed meeting begins By Julie Rannazzisi, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 10:42 AM ET Oct 3, 2000 NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Technology stocks finally found some modest support after two consecutive days of steep declines, placing the Nasdaq in positive terrain Tuesday. Networking and chip stocks enjoyed the heftiest advance in the tech group while the broad market garnered its momentum from biotech and paper shares - two areas that were hard hit on Monday. Falling in the red were drug, utility and retail issues. In the meantime, the Federal Reserve is meeting Tuesday, with a decision on interest rates expected at the usual time -- around 2:15 p.m. Wall Street is unanimous in expecting the central bank to leave the fed funds rate target unchanged at 6 1/2 percent. The Fed's last interest-rate move came on May 16, with a rare 50-basis-point nudge up in borrowing costs. As always, market watchers will scrutinize the statement released by the Fed at the conclusion of its meeting, which is expected to repeat recent language that risks to the U.S. economy remain tilted toward inflation. The Dow Jones Industrials Average ($DJ) gained 36 points, or 0.3 percent, to 10,736. The Dow's frontrunners included Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Boeing and Eastman Kodak. Movers on the downside were Wal-Mart, American Express and IBM. The Nasdaq Composite ($COMPQ) added 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,570 while the Nasdaq 100 Index ($NDX) climbed 16 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,474. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($SPX) gained 0.2 percent while the Russell 2000 Index ($RUT) of small-capitalization stocks lost 0.2 percent. Volume stood at 243 million on the NYSE and at 455 million on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Breadth was mixed, with winners beating losers by 14 to 10 on the NYSE while decliners outnumbered advancers by 17 to 15 on the Nasdaq. Individual movers Xerox (XRX) fell $3.06, or 20 percent, to $12.25. Xerox warned late Monday that it now expects to report a loss of 15 to 20 cents per share versus the First Call estimate of a profit of 12 cents per share. Xerox cited weaker revenue in North America and Europe, increased competitive pressures and the faltering euro as reason for the huge miss. In the chip arena, Intel (INTC) added $1.69 to $41.81 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX) rose 0.7 percent. Separately, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported that worldwide chip sales reached a high f $18.19 billion in August, an increase of 52.7 percent from the $11.91 billion registered during the same period last year. The fastest growth in sales was witnessed in the wireless and Internet infrastructure markets, with increases spread across all geographical regions, according to SIA president George Scalise. Abgenix added $3.13 to $75.25. The company (ABGX) announced late Monday that Pfizer filed with the FDA an investigational new drug application for the treatment of cancer, which was generated with the use of Abgenix's XenoMouse technology. The move will trigger an undisclosed payment to Abgenix. The stock is a component of the Nasdaq Biotech Index ($IXBT), which gained 1.1 percent following a 6.3-percent tumble on Monday. Pfizer (PFE), meanwhile, fell 63 cents to $43.63. Bond focus Government prices are unlikely to see any major action ahead of the results of the Fed's policy-setting meeting. The 10-year Treasury note erased 5/32 to yield ($TNX) 5.845 percent while the 30-year bond gave up 6/32 to yield ($TYX) 5.94 percent. In economic news, August new homes sales fell 3 percent to 893,000, less than the expected 901,000 level. July new home sales were downwardly revised to show an 11.8-percent increase versus the previously reported 14.7 percent surge. View Economic Preview, economic calendar and forecasts and historical economic data. In the currency arena, the dollar traded close to the flatline against both the yen and the euro. Limited reaction was seen to the release of Japan's quarterly "Tankan" report on business conditions. The Tankan survey revealed better-than-expected business sentiment and an improvement for the seventh straight quarter. The index rose to 10 in the July to September quarter versus the 3-level registered in the previous quarter. In recent trading, dollar/yen erased 0.3 percent to 108.55 while euro/dollar lost 0.2 percent to 0.8759. Julie Rannazzisi is markets editor for CBS.MarketWatch.com.