NVLS is mention down below.
Stan
Bumpy ride on Wall St.
November 30, 2001: 5:22 p.m. ET
money.cnn.com
Weak economic data curtail investor enthusiasm in listless trading session.
By Staff Writer Parija Bhatnagar
money.cnn.com
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. stocks fluctuated to a mixed close in a see-saw trading session Friday, as techs weighed down the Nasdaq and investors remained tentative following disappointing key economic reports.
"This was a prototypical Friday in that traders and investors weren't eager to carry any positions over the weekend and you saw fluctuations back and forth in the market. It will be tough to get a gauge on what Monday morning will look like," Marty Cunningham, head of trading with Schwab Capital markets, told CNNfn's Street Sweep.
Economic output contracted at a sharper rate, with the nation's gross domestic product number, the broadest measure of economic health, at a revised rate of 1.1 percent in the third quarter, the government said. The rate originally was reported as a 0.4 percent contraction. It was the worst quarter for GDP since it shrank 2 percent in the first quarter of 1991.
There also was a sign of weakness in regional manufacturing, as the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago's index fell to 41.1 in November, lower than expected, from 46.2 in October.
But market analysts said investors remained distracted by the Enron debacle, which jolted markets Wednesday, as they weighed the GDP number against more encouraging data about the corporate outlook, and slightly positive comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan about improvement in fourth-quarter productivity.
"It's too soon in the fourth quarter to make very many judgments, but despite the fact that we clearly have been shocked by the tragedy of September 11, there is no evidence at this stage from the data we have to date that there will be a decline in the fourth quarter," Greenspan said Friday, speaking before the Euro Group Forum in Washington, D.C.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 22.14 to 9,851.56. The Nasdaq composite lost 2.68 to 1,930.58. In the broader market, the Standard & Poor's 500 shed 0.75 to 1,139.45.
For the week, the Dow finished down 1.1 percent, while the Nasdaq closed 1.4 percent higher. The S&P 500 fell 0.95 percent for the week.
In November, the Dow industrials rose 8.6 percent and the Nasdaq composite index added 1.4 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 shed 0.9 percent in November.
Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, decliners edged advancers as 1.3 billion shares traded. On the Nasdaq, decliners stayed ahead of losers as 1.7 billion shares changed hands.
Asian markets finished higher Friday, while European markets were mixed at the close.
Treasury prices were mostly higher, with the 10-year note yield dipping to 4.74 percent from 4.79 percent late Thursday. The dollar fell against the euro and yen. Light crude oil futures gained 82 cents to $19.44 a barrel in New York.
Novellus casts a pall over techs
Chip-equipment maker Novellus Systems (NVLS: down $3.53 to $38.07, Research, Estimates) issued a warning late Thursday that it may lose money in its first and second quarters. Robertson Stephens downgraded the company to "market perform" from "buy" and lowered 2002 estimates, citing its pricing weakness.
Novellus' news weighed down the sector. The Philadelphia semiconductor index fell 10.65 points, or 2 percent, to 522.22.
Among the companies hurt were Applied Materials (AMAT: down $1.71 to $39.74, Research, Estimates), KLA-Tencor (KLAC: down $2.53 to $50.23, Research, Estimates), Teradyne (TER: down $1.53 to $27.86, Research, Estimates) and Altera (ALTR: down $0.71 to $22.76, Research, Estimates).
The Dow's biggest winner was component Home Depot (HD: up $2.63 to $46.65, Research, Estimates), the world's largest home improvement retailer, which said it is on track to meet Wall Street expectations in the fiscal fourth quarter as well as internal growth targets through 2004. The company also said it expects better-than-expected revenue growth of 18 percent to 20 percent through 2004. |
